DISINFO: The judges of the ECHR are affiliated with Soros
SUMMARY
The majority of the judges of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) are affiliated with George Soros' NGO network.
The ECHR's decision demanding the release of Alexei Navalny from prison constitutes interference into Russia's internal affairs, and the court did not take into account Moscow's data on the condition's of Navalny's detention. The court overstepped its boundaries with the decision and it is not based on facts.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative concerning the ECHR after their decision on Alexei Navalny.
The fact that some lawyers worked at some point in their career for an NGO that received funds from the Open Society Foundation before becoming a judge for the ECHR is not sufficient to declare a potential conflict of interest. The recruitment process for judges to the ECHR is as follows; each member state of the Council of Europe, incl Russia, proposes three candidates, from whom one is elected for a 9 years non-renewable mandate. This ensures the diversity of the court. Therefore, it is hard to argue that the judges' decision would be motivated by their political affiliations.
Second, as for the Navalny ruling itself, the report conveniently omits the section of the document which grounds the Court's decision both in judicial precedent and with reference to the European Convention of Human Rights. The omitted portion states that failure on Russia's part to comply with the request "may entail a breach of Article 34 of the Convention," a provision granting any individual, group, or non-governmental entity based in a signatory state the right to lodge proceedings with the Court "claiming to be the victim of a violation by one of the High Contracting Parties of the rights set forth in the Convention," and requiring the signatory state "not to hinder in any way the effective exercise of this right."
Moreover, the communique makes reference to the 2005 ECHR judgment in Mamatkulov and Askarov v. Turkey, arguing that the operative part of the judgment applies to the Russian state's treatment of Navalny [see paras. 128-9 and point 5 of the operative part beginning with "For these reasons, the court..."].
Third, the ECHR statement is not so much a "demand" as a reminder of Russia's obligation to observe the provisions of the Convention, which it voluntarily assumed upon joining the Council of Europe in 1996.