An important thing I should have written several years ago.
You know, of course, that my brother Oleg Navalny has been in prison for 3 years and 3 months, effectively a hostage taken by Putin.
All this time he has been held under so-called “strict detention conditions,” and for about two years he was kept in solitary confinement.
On October 17, the European Court’s ruling was issued. Oleg and I won this case against the Russian government, and the court unanimously found the Russian trial to be “fundamentally unfair,” also establishing that we were convicted despite the absence of any crime having taken place. In other words, the ECHR (European Court of Human Rights) effectively stated that the criminal case had been fabricated.
Under the law, Russia’s Supreme Court was obliged to remedy these violations, that is, to overturn the verdict.
That did not happen for several months, because the ECHR ruling had not yet become final. Both we and the Russian government appealed the decision, requesting that it be reviewed by the Grand Chamber of the ECHR.
However, the court denied all requests, and the ECHR ruling became final on March 5, 2018.
From that moment, Oleg Navalny should have been released immediately. I believe he should have been released on October 17, and even if the ruling had not yet become final, that should have been interpreted in his favor. After all, he was placed in pretrial detention immediately after the verdict on December 30, 2014, even though that verdict became final only a month later. But a legal dispute is possible here. Some see it one way, others another.
Now, however, there is no doubt at all. The ECHR is part of the Russian judicial system. There is a court ruling in force. The Supreme Court may drag out the procedure, but they are obliged to release Oleg immediately.
As of March 5, this is, legally speaking, outright “unlawful deprivation of liberty.”
The argument that “he only has 3 months left to serve” is unacceptable. Go and try spending 3 months in SUS (strict conditions of detention), when your entire life takes place in a cell and the exercise yard is just the neighboring cell.
A week ago, on March 13, our lawyers submitted petitions to the Supreme Court demanding that it immediately begin the procedure for implementing the ECHR ruling and, above all, release Oleg.
I call on all remaining independent media representatives, first, to spread this information, and second, to put questions to representatives of the Supreme Court and the judicial system in general.