Kremlin On ECHR Calls To Release Navalny: This Bias Raises Concerns

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday that the demand of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) to release Alexey Navalny was an unacceptable attempt to interfere in Russia's domestic affairs, also noting that the ECHR partiality was raising concerns

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 18th February, 2021) Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday that the demand of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) to release Alexey Navalny was an unacceptable attempt to interfere in Russia's domestic affairs, also noting that the ECHR partiality was raising concerns.

Earlier this week, the ECHR called on the Russian government to release the opposition figure, whom a court in Moscow sentenced to 3.5 years behind bars early this month, replacing a suspended sentence with a real one in the Yves Rocher fraud case. Russian Justice Minister Konstantin Chuychenko said that the demand was unenforceable a priori, since the Russian law envisions no legal grounds for the release.

"You know, Justice Minister Chuychenko actually expressed our stance yesterday. This is an illegitimate decision and a very significant attempt to interfere in Russia's domestic court processes, which we believe is unacceptable," Peskov told reporters, asked if Russia could withdraw from the ECHR in light of this demand, and if Russia had concerns regarding potential sanctions by the Council of Europe.

Russia does not seek confrontation, but is concerned over the ECHR's political prejudice, the Kremlin spokesman continued.

"We do not seek any confrontation. On the other hand, we have many questions regarding such decisions, the haste and the prejudice, which I believe is obvious," Peskov added.