Russia rejected European Court’s request to release opposition Alexei Navalny and called it “interference”

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on Wednesday called for the release “with immediate effect” of opposition Alexei Navalny, arguing that his life is in danger in prison, a request immediately rejected by Russia denouncing unacceptable interference.

The decision of the European Court was published just a month after the arrest in January of the number one opponent of the Kremlin, while returning from his convalescence in Germany for a poisoning of which he blamed Vladimir Poutine.

This “provisional measure” of the ECHR is based on a pdeath perpetrated by the Russian opposition on January 20, during which he demanded his release. Navalny considered that the measures taken by the Russian authorities during his detention “did not give sufficient guarantees on his life and his health”.

The Russian Minister of Justice has turned a deaf ear to this European institution based in Strasbourg (eastern France). “There is no legal basis in Russian law which authorizes the release of this person”, said Konstantin Chuychenko, reported by Russian news agencies, also denouncing a “Political” decision and “gross interference” in Russian affairs.

“It is a blow to international law, of which the ECHR is not aware,” he declared on television. Rossia-24 Russian diplomacy spokeswoman Maria Zajarova, who accused the court of “interference” and “pressure” in the country’s internal affairs.

Two years and eight months

Moscow, in tension for years with the European Union (EU) and the United States, He had previously rejected numerous Western calls to free Russia’s most famous opponent, considering them as an affront to their sovereignty.

Navalny’s supporters celebrated the ECHR ruling and insisted that Russian justice must comply immediately.

“Russia must comply with this decision (…) since the European Convention (on human rights) is part of Russian law, ”he told the AFP the opponent’s lawyer, Olga Mijáilova.

A constitutional reform adopted by referendum last year It allows Russia to reject decisions and norms of international law that it considers contrary to its Constitution.

However, the ECHR recalls that as a signatory country to the European Convention on Human Rights, Russia has “an obligation to respect” this resolution.

However, countries like Turkey in 2005, Moldova in 2009 or Russia itself in 2016 were condemned for “non-compliance” with this type of measure.

Interim measures are the result of a exceptional procedure. They constitute “emergency measures”, taken into consideration when there is “immediate risk of irreparable damage”, with the aim of allowing “the proper functioning of the process”.

Legislative elections in the fall

Currently imprisoned in Moscow, Navalny awaits review on Saturday of appeal against two-year-eight-month sentence for violating judicial review to which the previous suspended sentence bound him.

Navalni ensures that could not submit to judicial review because he was recovering in Germany for his poisoning.

The opponent was sentenced to a suspended sentence in 2014 in a fraud case. The ECHR ruled in 2017 that neither he nor his brother, tried under the same procedure, had received a fair trial.

His arrest in January this year was followed by three days of unauthorized protests across Russia during which some 11,000 arrests took place.

Navalny and his supporters think organize new demonstrations in spring and summer, ahead of the Russian parliamentary elections, in a context of declining popularity of the ruling United Russia party.

Faced with the refusal of the authorities to investigate the Navalny poisoning, the EU has adopted sanctions against Russian officials. She is now considering further measures to refuse to release him.

Alexéi Navalny, 44, became known thanks to his investigations into the corruption of Russian elites, which he broadcasts on the net. It is very popular with Russian urban youth.

With information from AFP

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