It took several years again, but once again we proved we were right. The European Court of Human Rights has ruled in our favor in the Yves Rocher case. We proved that the case was fabricated, and that the disgusting clown show that took place in Moscow’s Zamoskvoretsky District Court in 2014 had nothing whatsoever to do with a fair trial.
All of this was orchestrated for one purpose only: to obstruct my anti-corruption and political work by putting pressure on me and my family.
The court found a violation of Article 6 of the Convention (“Right to a fair trial”) and, which is a major victory for us and a rare occurrence in general, Article 7 (“No punishment without law”)—which in effect means that, having examined the case, the court found no criminal offense in it at all.
As for Article 18 (political motives behind the prosecution), the court declined to examine it. Now many people who do not really understand how this works will, as usual, start interpreting this as “the ECHR did not recognize political motives in Navalny’s persecution,” but that is not quite true. In practice, the ECHR is currently not considering the application of Article 18 in relation to Russia (the last time it did so was in 2004, in the “Gusinsky case”).
I am very glad that justice has been done and that, just as in the Kirovles case, and as in all the cases involving detentions and arrests, we have legally proven that they were unlawful.
When the thieves and crooks in power (like today’s vile, lying Pamfilova) declare that I cannot run for office because of the “law,” because of the “verdict,” because I am a “criminal,” because I am a “repeat offender,” we can confidently show them something they will never have: a ruling from a real, honest court. It states clearly that the law and justice are on our side. They are the criminals, not me.
I want to thank everyone who helped and supported us in this latest unequal struggle against the state:
my and Oleg’s lawyers: Olga Mikhailova, Vadim Kobzev, and Kirill Polozov
everyone who supported the “The Case That Doesn’t Exist” campaign and helped spread information about it
- the journalists who covered the trial
Oleg’s colleagues, who were not afraid to come to court as witnesses and say that the case was entirely fabricated
- the people who came to the hearings (especially the good man who stood outside the courthouse every day with a one-person protest and shouted “Putin is a scoundrel” and “Putin, repent” so loudly that we could hear him inside the courtroom)
- everyone who took part in the “Navalny Thursday” campaign, supporting me while I was under house arrest
everyone who wrote to Oleg in prison over the last three years to support him
And, of course, all the members of our family, for whom this was not an easy ordeal.
Sending rays of support to my brother. It must be especially bitter for him to still be sitting there now, knowing that the court ruled in his favor and established that he spent those three years in a penal colony, two of them in solitary confinement, without the slightest guilt. Write him a letter (by mail: 303900, Oryol Region, Naryshkino settlement, 62 Zavodskaya St., Penal Colony No. 5, to Oleg Anatolyevich Navalny, born 1983; via FSIN-letter: Oryol Region, IK-5 Naryshkino, to Oleg Anatolyevich Navalny, born 1983)
We will definitely win; the important thing is never to lose faith in being right. As you can see, that is no longer just a moral category, but a legal one as well.
People