This morning in Strasbourg, the long-awaited hearing of the Grand Chamber of the ECHR (European Court of Human Rights) took place. It is to decide whether there was a political motive in the cases concerning my arrests at rallies. We already won those cases themselves, but now we are seeking recognition under Article 18, while the Russian government, for its part, is doing everything it can to prevent that from happening (with a delegation of no fewer than eight people).
It is, of course, very interesting. Especially for a lawyer from Russia, for whom a judge is little more than an app attached to the phone through which the verdict is dictated. Here, it is a genuine adversarial process: everything is important and solemn, the parties prepare thoroughly, and the judges ask questions.
It was very funny to listen to Russia’s representative telling the panel of judges how wonderfully everything works with public rallies in Russia: permits are supposedly issued to us all the time, no one creates any obstacles, and Navalny himself just loves being arrested. That is literally what he said.
The decision will not come soon—it will take several months—but if political motives are recognized, it will be extremely important for all similar cases that follow.
In my remarks, I was essentially talking about the same thing I write here all the time: the importance of our right to assembly increases many times over in a situation where all other political rights—elections, access to the media, normal courts—have been taken away. In these circumstances, we must actively exercise this right at all times, and on January 28 in particular. Find your city on the list and be sure to take part in the protest.