Navalny's Defense Appeals Russia's Claims Of Compliance With ECHR Ruling In CoE - Lawyer

Umer Jamshaid Published February 25, 2021 | 04:20 PM

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 25th February, 2021) The defense team of Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny appealed to the Council of Europe's committee of ministers regarding Russia's claims of compliance with the European Court of Human Rights ruling on the Yves Roche case, Navalny's lawyer, Olga Mikhailova, told Sputnik on Thursday.

Following the ECHR ruling, Russia paid the ��80,000 ($98,000) compensation for keeping Navalny under house arrest. The Russian Supreme court also agreed to review the proceedings, but in the end, kept the original verdict. The Russian Justice Ministry later stated that Russia has fulfilled its obligations regarding the case.

"We appealed to the [Council of Europe] Council of Minister in response to the appeal of the Russian Justice Ministry to the European Court of Human Rights. It [defense's appeal] will be on the agenda of the next session in March," the lawyer said.

She noted that earlier, the Russian Justice Ministry announced its compliance with the ruling of the ECHR in the Yves Roche case as the Supreme court reopened the case, but it did not overturn the original verdict.

"We fully oppose this stance and insist on compliance with the ruling and release of the defendant," Mikhailova stressed.

Previously, the ECHR has rejected the allegations that Navalny is persecuted based solely on political grounds. The Yves Roche case was not deemed politically motivated by the court and the Russian side was not ordered to overturn the original sentence. The ECHR concluded that the defendant's actions could be regarded as either criminal or ordinary commercial activities.

In February, a Moscow court decided to substitute the suspended sentence with 3.5 years of real jail time. Later on February 16, the ECHR granted Navalny interim measures and called for his immediate release. Moscow has firmly condemned this ruling as interference with internal affairs.

Currently Navalny is detained and awaits escort to the penal facility. His jail time was reduced to a bit over 2.5 years as the Moscow city court decided to deduct 1.5 months of house arrest from the sentence.