The European Court of Human Rights on Thursday condemned Russia over a series of arrests of outspoken Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, calling them “politically motivated” attempts to curtail opposition to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s government.
Judges at the court in Strasbourg, France, said that 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 judgement,” Navalny said in Strasbourg, where he managed to arrive on Wednesday after Russian border guards prevented him from flying out of Moscow the day before.
The agents said that he could not leave until he paid a fine of 2.1 million rubles (US$31,863) connected to a 2013 conviction.
“The European court recognizes 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 (US$56,837) in damages, as well as 1,025 euros in financial compensation, and 12,653 euros for costs and expenses.
However, Navalny said he did not expect the Russian government to hand over the money.
“It is going to ignore the ruling and say the European justice system is politically motivated... That is the Russian government’s standard response,” he said.
The court last year already condemned Russia over the arrests, but rejected Navalny’s claim that they were politically motivated. That prompted a rare appeal by both Navalny and the Russian authorities.
In its latest ruling, the court called on Russia “to provide a legal mechanism for the authorities to take due regard of the fundamental importance of the right to peaceful assembly and show the necessary tolerance for unauthorized, peaceful gatherings.”
Navalny, a 42-year-old Yale-educated lawyer, has for years investigated suspected corruption by top officials, at times making allegations which have drawn thousands of people into the streets.
He came to prominence as an organizer of huge anti-Putin rallies that shook Russia in 2011 and 2012 following accusations of vote-rigging in parliamentary polls that restored Putin to the presidency.
Putin has shown no appetite for opposition, and Navalny has repeatedly been arrested -- last month he was released from back-to-back sentences for organizing demonstrations.
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