DISINFO: The ECHR confirmed Navalny prosecution was not politically motivated
SUMMARY
Russia has repeatedly denied that Navalny's prosecution was politically motivated, which was also confirmed by the European Court of Human Rights.
RESPONSE
This is part of the ongoing disinformation campaign aimed at discrediting the Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny. One of the messages spread by this campaign is that the 2014 Yves Rocher fraud case against Navalny was fully legitimate and did not pursue any pro-Kremlin political objectives. This case clearly misrepresents the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR)'s judgement.
It is not true that the ECHR declared the prosecution of Navalny was not politically motivated.
The ECHR Chamber Judgement of April 4, 2019, which concerned Navalny’s house arrest and restrictive measures related to the Yves Rochet fraud case, did not declare that there were no political motivations in the case. In this judgement, the ECHR “corroborated Navalny’s allegations” that the house-arrest and restrictions on him in the Yves Rocher case had been aimed at limiting his public activities, and that they had pursued the same aim of the suppression of political pluralism.
The ECHR also found that the house-arrest order, which had lasted 10 months, was not in proportion to the alleged crimes, and that the restrictions on Navalny during his house arrest had become more and more incongruous over time and parts of the communications ban had even been found to be unlawful in court.
In its previous October 2017 ruling, the ECHR declined to examine whether the Yves Rocher case was politically motivated, although three judges said that it should have done so.
It should also be remembered that Russia is a member of the ECHR (since 1996) and bound by it obligations towards ECHR.
Read a similar case claiming that Navalny’s arrest was in compliance with lawful procedures because he has a suspended sentence or that the ECHR states that there were no political motivations in the 2014 Yves Rocher fraud case against Alexei Navalny.