Europe’s highest human rights court has ordered Russia to release jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny, a ruling that is unlikely to soften the Kremlin’s determination to isolate its most prominent enemy.
The European Court of Human Rights ruling that was posted on Navalny’s website on Wednesday demands that Russia release him immediately and warns that failure to do so would violate the European convention on human rights.
Navalny, 44, the anti-corruption investigator and most prominent critic of President Vladimir Putin, was arrested last month upon returning from Germany, where he spent five months recovering from nerve agent poisoning that he blames on the Kremlin. The Russian authorities have rejected the accusation.
Earlier this month, a Moscow court sentenced Navalny to two years and eight months in prison for violating the terms of his probation while recovering in Germany. The ruling stems from a 2014 embezzlement conviction that Navalny has rejected as fabricated and the European court has ruled illegal.
In its ruling on Tuesday, the ECHR pointed to Rule 39 of its regulations, citing “the nature and extent of the risk to the life of the applicant.”
The Russian Justice Ministry warned in a statement issued by the Tass news agency that the ECHR’s demand to refer to the rule would represent “gross interference in Russia’s judicial system” and would “cross the red line.”
He stressed that “the ECHR cannot replace a national court or cancel its verdict.”
In the past, Moscow has complied with ECHR judgments granting compensation to Russian citizens who have challenged verdicts in Russian courts, but never faced a European court lawsuit to release a convict.
Reflecting its growing irritation over the verdicts of the European court, Russia last year adopted a constitutional amendment declaring the priority of national legislation over international law. Russian authorities could now use that provision to reject the EHCR’s decision.
Navalny’s arrest and imprisonment fueled a wave of protests across Russia. The authorities responded with heavy repression, arresting some 11,000 people, many of whom were fined or sentenced to prison terms of between seven and 15 days.
Russia has dismissed Western criticism of Navalny’s arrest and crackdown on protests as meddling in its internal affairs.
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She is a freelance blogger, writer, and speaker, and writes for various entertainment magazines.