The ECHR demanded that Russia release Navalny

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) demanded that the Russian authorities release politician Alexei Navalny. The resolution was published on the oppositionist's blog.

“On 16 February 2021, the Chamber of seven Judges of the Court decided, in the interests of the parties and the proper conduct of the proceedings, to direct Russia, in accordance with Rule 39 of the Rules of Court, to release the applicant,” the document says.

The ECHR added that Russia must release Navalny immediately. This is an interim measure at the request of Navalny’s defense.

“If the Ministry of Justice refuses the ECHR’s request to release Navalny in accordance with Rule 39 of the Rules of the European Court, this will be the first case in history of a country that is a member of the European Convention refusing to implement such a decision,” Navalny’s lawyer Olga Mikhailova told Open Media.

In 2017, the ECHR recognized that the verdict in the Yves Rocher case, in which Navalny received a suspended 3.5-year prison sentence, violated his rights to.

After replacing the suspended sentence in this case with a real one, the oppositionist’s defenders appealed to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe with a complaint about Russia’s failure to comply with the decisions of the ECHR.