The European Court has communicated the complaint filed by lawyer Olga Mikhailova regarding Alexei Navalny’s arrest on March 26 and is requiring the Russian government to answer a number of questions by August 31. The questions concern the following articles of the European Convention on Human Rights:
- Article 5 of the Convention (in connection with the unlawful detention and 15-day administrative arrest of A.A. Navalny);
- Article 6 (in connection with an unfair trial conducted without observing the adversarial principle and equality of arms, without providing sufficient time to prepare a defense, and in violation of the right to examine witnesses);
- Articles 10 and 11 of the Convention (in connection with the violation of A.A. Navalny’s rights to freedom of expression and freedom of assembly as a result of the authorities’ actions in breaching the established procedure for approving public events, detaining and arresting the applicant, and bringing him to administrative liability);
- Article 18 of the Convention (in connection with deprivation of liberty and violations of the rights to freedom of expression and freedom of assembly for politically motivated purposes unrelated to the interests of justice).
A complaint regarding Alexei’s arrest, which he is currently serving, will be submitted shortly. We remind everyone that, just as Navalny promised, we are working to challenge all unlawful arrests and detentions before the European Court.
After the March 26 rally, 1,666 to 1,805 people were detained across the country, and we currently have 711 cases underway.
On June 12, there were significantly fewer arrests across the country (with the exception of St. Petersburg). Most people were detained for a period of time and were often released without a police report; there were 1,769 such cases, and we have 282 cases underway.