Release Alexei Navalny now, orders top European court

The court ruled that Russia was unable to provide sufficient safeguards for the Kremlin critic’s life and health.

Alexei Navalny in court for a defamation case this week. Picture: AFP

The European Court of Human Rights has ordered Russia to release Alexei Navalny, prompting an angry response from Moscow.

The court ruled that Russia was unable to provide sufficient safeguards for the Kremlin critic’s life and health, citing the circumstances of his arrest. It warned that a failure to release him immediately would represent a breach of the European human rights convention, of which Russia is a signatory.

Mr Navalny, 44, was arrested last month on arrival in Moscow from Berlin, where he had been convalescing from a near-deadly nerve agent poisoning that he ­attributed to President Vladimir Putin. On February 2, Mr Navalny was sentenced to two years and eight months in prison on fraud charges that he said were politically motivated. The European court did not examine the merits of the case.

Russian Justice Minister Konstantin Chuychenko said the court order was unprecedented and represented “clear and crude” interference in domestic affairs. “The demand is deliberately unenforceable since in ­accordance with Russian law there are no legal grounds for the release of this person from custody,” he said.

The court said Russia had not identified the people who had tried to kill Mr Navalny, meaning that he would be in danger in jail. In October, he tricked an FSB agent into admitting there had been a plot to kill him by smearing novichok on his underpants. Russia has refused to investigate what it calls Mr Navalny’s “illness”.

He is being held in a cell at the prison in Moscow where Sergei Magnitsky, a whistleblowing lawyer, died in 2009 after alleged mistreatment. Russia had argued to the court that Mr Navalny’s cell was under video surveillance and that there was no threat to his wellbeing.

More than 11,000 people were arrested during nationwide protests to call for Mr Navalny’s release on January 23 and 31. His allies recently called a temporary halt to demonstrations and said they would use international ­lobbying to secure his freedom. The Kremlin has accused Mr ­Navalny of being a CIA agent but has provided no evidence.

The court’s decision was based on its Rule 39, which is often used to compel countries to free illegal immigrants who would face torture or death if deported. Although Russia is a member of the Council of Europe, which oversees the work of the ECHR, it has failed to implement some of its rulings.

Navalny lawyer Olga Mikhailova said Russia would be the first country to defy a Rule 39 order. “As far as I know, rulings by the European court on Rule 39 have been implemented by all countries. I don’t know why Navalny should be an exception,” she said.

A court in Moscow is due to hear Mr Navalny’s appeal against his sentence on Saturday. The Kremlin could save face by rejecting the European court’s demand while allowing a Russian judge to free him. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said last week that Moscow could sever ties with the EU if it imposed sanctions on Russia over the affair.

Shortly before the European court ruling, Mr Navalny had jokingly compared his prison cell to a spacecraft that was taking him on a dangerous yet thrilling journey to a “wonderful new world”.

“Prison, as we all know, is in your head,” he said in a message passed on by allies and posted on his Instagram account. “And if you think about it, then it becomes clear that I’m not in prison, but on a voyage through space.

“Judge for yourselves. I have a simple, spartan-looking cabin — an iron bed, a table and a bedside table. There is no time for luxury on a spaceship. The cabin door opens only from the command centre. People in uniform come to me, they say only a few formulaic phrases, the light of a video camera is on their chest — these are androids.”

He alluded to looming embezzlement charges that could add 10 years to his sentence, as well as fears that he could be killed in prison. “Yes, space travel is dangerous. The flight can be much longer due to a navigation error. A random asteroid can destroy the ship and you will die. But help often comes,” he said.

The Times