EU human rights court: Putin critic a political prisoner
STRASBOURG: Europe’s top rights court condemned Russia on Thursday over a series of arrests of the outspoken Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, calling them “politically motivated” attempts to curtail opposition to President Vladimir Putin’s government.
Judges at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg said seven arrests between 2012 and 2014 had violated Navalny’s rights to security, a fair trial and the freedom of assembly.
Each time the anti-corruption campaigner was detained and later convicted of either breaching procedures for holding public demonstrations or disobeying a police order. In two of the arrests, the court ruled that “they had actually aimed at suppressing political pluralism”.
“It is a very clear judgment,” Navalny said after the ruling in Strasbourg, where he managed to arrive Wednesday after Russian border guards prevented him from flying out of Moscow the day before.
The agents said he could not leave until he paid a fine of 2.1 million rubles (28,000 euros, $31,600) connected to a 2013 conviction.
“The European court recognises that it was a politically motivated arrest and persecution,” Navalny said. “It was very important not just for me but for many people all over Russia who are arrested every day.”
The court ordered Russia to pay Navalny 50,000 euros ($56,000) in damages, as well as 1,025 euros in financial compensation and 12,653 euros for costs and expenses.
But Navalny said he did not expect the Russian government to hand over the money.