Persecution of Russian opposition member Aleksey Navalny

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Photo credit: Evgeniy Isaev

Photo credit: Evgeniy Isaev

Background

Aleksey Navalny is a political opposition figure in Russia. Amongst other incidents, he was arrested seven times without any proper reason between 2012 and 2014 at different public gatherings.

After each of the arrests, Mr. Navalny was taken to a police station for several hours while an offence report was drafted. He was then charged with several administrative offences, which led to his conviction. He was fined five times fined and was twice sentenced to administrative detention.

Judgment of European Court of Human Rights

In one of many judgments concerning Mr Navalny, the European Court of Human Rights held that the deprivation of Mr Navalny’s liberty had been unlawful, arbitrary, and unjustified by any meaningful reason.  The arrests had been politically motivated.

They had also violated the right to free assembly, which was not properly protected under Russian law.

Shortcomings in Implementation

The Russian authorities are under obligation to take measures to address these violations. They have not yet produced an Action Plan.

EIN Activities

EIN has hosted a presentation of this case to representatives of the Committee of Ministers.