On the victory at the ECHR and Navalny’s eligibility to run in the elections
Text version
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Hi everyone, this is Kira Yarmysh. This
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week, something very, very
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good happened, but Alexei Navalny
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is still under
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administrative arrest and can't tell you
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about it himself, but I can. On October 16,
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the European Court of Human Rights issued
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its ruling in the Yves Rocher case and essentially
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found that the trial against
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the Navalny brothers was
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unfair, and also—most importantly—
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that they were convicted for
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actions that do not constitute
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a crime. I remember very well how
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the trial in the Yves Rocher case began. I
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had only just started working at the Anti-Corruption
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Foundation.
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Alexei was under house arrest, and I
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saw him for the first time in court.
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August 1, 2014, was my first
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day on the job, and that same day there was
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the first hearing. For the next five months,
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I went to the Zamoskvoretsky District Court (in Moscow) so often
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that it felt as if I'd been hired to work
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there. In another video, I already said
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that before joining the FBK, I had never
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dealt with the Russian judicial
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system. So you can imagine
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what kind of impression I was under
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when, on my very first day,
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I found myself at a trial like that. It's a very
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strange feeling, really.
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The prosecution witnesses would testify, and all of
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them said they had no complaints against
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Navalny. Their cooperation with Oleg
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had only benefited them. They could have terminated
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the contract at any moment, but they
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didn't, because they were completely
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satisfied. I had always thought
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that prosecution witnesses were supposed to be
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somewhat more hostile, and I kept
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waiting for the catch.
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But when even the financial director of
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Yves Rocher told the judge that they had suffered no damages
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and had no complaints, I completely
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stopped understanding why the prosecutors were
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sitting there with such indifferent expressions. I mean,
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right there before our eyes,
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people were saying no crime had been committed.
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How could the prosecution possibly get out of that?
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Surely the entire case had fallen apart.
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But then it turned out that in a Russian court,
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the prosecution's case doesn't collapse even if there are
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no victims in the case. It doesn't matter.
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The investigators know best. If they said there was
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damage, then there was damage. And the fact that you're the financial
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director and don't see any such damage in your books is of no
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interest to anyone. At the time, I still wasn't prepared
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for the fact that in Russian courts, this is how things can work,
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and it truly shocked me. That's why now
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it seems especially important to me that the ECHR
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recognized that Alexei and Oleg were convicted
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for actions that are not, in any way,
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a violation of the law.
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This absurd Yves Rocher case, in which there
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were no victims and no damages,
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was fabricated from beginning to end. That, of course,
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does not undo the fact that
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Alexei spent a year under house
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arrest, and even less does it undo the three years
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that Oleg spent in prison without the slightest
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guilt. No court ruling can make up for that.
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But nevertheless, it
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means that the truth was always on our
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side. The Yves Rocher case
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arose from the very beginning for one reason only:
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to stop Alexei from carrying out his
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anti-corruption political
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activities, to put pressure on him and his
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family. And Oleg suffered only because
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of that. We repeated this throughout
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all the time that has passed since the
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verdict, but now our words
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have been confirmed by an independent court.
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People in power shout that Navalny
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is legally barred from running for office, but
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this very ECHR ruling proves
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that those claims are lies and a sham.
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And the people repeating them are themselves
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criminals. What our courts do supposedly
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"according to the law" gets overturned time and again
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by the European Court.
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That was the case with Kirovles, and the same
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thing has now happened with Yves Rocher. There is no
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real law preventing
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Navalny from putting forward his
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candidacy for President of Russia now.
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There are only people who are terribly
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afraid of that and are ready to lie, twist the truth,
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open fake criminal cases, and
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jail innocent people on their basis, just to convince
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everyone that he can't do it. So don't
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believe them. The truth is on our side, and we
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are ready to defend it for as long as
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it takes.
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And you can help us if you add
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your signature in support of Alexei Navalny's movement,
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if you support our campaign financially,
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if you share this video, because
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this is our only way to fight
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lies and hypocrisy.
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And of course, subscribe to our channel—this is where
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the truth is told.