Disinfo: The ECHR confirmed Navalny prosecution was not politically motivated

Summary

Russia has repeatedly denied that Navalny's prosecution was politically motivated, which was also confirmed by the European Court of Human Rights.

Disproof

This is part of the ongoing disinformation campaign aimed at discrediting the Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny. One of the messages spread by this campaign is that the 2014 Yves Rocher fraud case against Navalny was fully legitimate and did not pursue any pro-Kremlin political objectives. This case clearly misrepresents the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR)'s judgement.

It is not true that the ECHR declared the prosecution of Navalny was not politically motivated.

The ECHR Chamber Judgement of April 4, 2019, which concerned Navalny’s house arrest and restrictive measures related to the Yves Rochet fraud case, did not declare that there were no political motivations in the case. In this judgement, the ECHR “corroborated Navalny’s allegations” that the house-arrest and restrictions on him in the Yves Rocher case had been aimed at limiting his public activities, and that they had pursued the same aim of the suppression of political pluralism.

The ECHR also found that the house-arrest order, which had lasted 10 months, was not in proportion to the alleged crimes, and that the restrictions on Navalny during his house arrest had become more and more incongruous over time and parts of the communications ban had even been found to be unlawful in court.

In its previous October 2017 ruling, the ECHR declined to examine whether the Yves Rocher case was politically motivated, although three judges said that it should have done so.

It should also be remembered that Russia is a member of the ECHR (since 1996) and bound by it obligations towards ECHR.

Read a similar case claiming that Navalny’s arrest was in compliance with lawful procedures because he has a suspended sentence or that the ECHR states that there were no political motivations in the 2014 Yves Rocher fraud case against Alexei Navalny.

Go to search

publication/media

sputnik-georgia.com (Archived)
  • Reported in: Issue 234
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 03/03/2021
  • Article language(s) Georgian
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: Russia
  • Keywords: Alexei Navalny, ECHR
see more

Disinfo: The Estonian Foreign Intelligence Service has become a Russophobic propaganda machine

The Estonian Foreign Intelligence Service has become a Russophobic propaganda machine. Its latest 2021 security report is propaganda and psychological warfare aimed at portraying Russia and its foreign policy in a negative light.

Mar 02, 2021
Disproof

The geopolitica.ru article repeats pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative attempting to depict Western accusations of aggressive Russian behavior as baseless and driven solely by "Russophobia". This narrative is often targeting the Baltic States and Poland. See a recent EUvsDisinfo insight.

The claim that Estonian Foreign Intelligence Service (EFIS) is a “Russophobic propaganda machine” is incorrect. The main function of EFIS (Välisluureamet) is to collect, analyse and report on Estonia's external security threats.

Disinfo: NATO would collapse if it abandoned the concept of the "Russian threat"

NATO would begin to collapse if it abandoned the concept of the "Russian threat".

The alliance does not address any of the real challenges facing the Western world, such as terrorism or the Coronavirus pandemic, but rather, it completely fights invented and hypothetical threats.

"Russian threat" has become the only pretext and basis for the existence of NATO and the preservation of the US strategic control over Europe. Without this phantom threat, the alliance will begin to crumble.

Mar 02, 2021
Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives about Western Russophobia and alleged belligerent NATO, portraying the Alliance as a threat to peace and Russia, and is consistent with recurring portrayal on NATO member states' subordination to the US.

NATO is in no way directed against Russia or any other state. NATO’s objectives are set out in the 1949 Washington Treaty which forms the legal basis of the alliance. The treaty states that parties “are resolved to unite their efforts for collective defence and for the preservation of peace and security”.

Disinfo: External aggression against Belarus is just beginning

If earlier the main burden of organising a coup d'etat in Belarus was borne by the small Eastern European subordinates like Poland, Lithuania and Ukraine, then the change of power in the US brought heavy artillery into the process. On November 5, 2020, the OSCE published the "Report of the OSCE Rapporteur in the framework of the Moscow Mechanism in connection with reports of human rights violations in the context of the presidential elections in Belarus", whose recommendations are unprecedented interference in the internal affairs of Belarus and, in fact, a demand to abolish the Constitution and laws of the country, renounce sovereignty and put the state under external control. Thus, the OSCE explicitly demands "to cancel the results of the presidential elections on August 9, 2020 and to organise a new genuine presidential election on the basis of international standards under the supervision of the OSCE / ODIHR."

It is quite obvious that external aggression against Belarus is just beginning and is gaining momentum. The stake was made on a coup and seizure of power by a handful of grant-eaters who are obedient puppets of the West.

Mar 02, 2021
Disproof

Recurrent pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative framing popular protests as Western-backed 'colour revolutions', part of a campaign to portray massive mobilisations in Belarus as a destabilisation effort orchestrated from abroad.

There is no evidence that Poland, Lithuania or any other Western governments are involved in the protests in Belarus. There was no coup in Belarus. Protests erupted to contest the results of the presidential election in Belarus on the 9th of August 2020, which were not monitored by independent experts and are largely considered fraudulent by both international observers and a big part of Belarusian society. Mobilisations were organised and carried out by local actors, opposition politicians, and Belarusian citizens, without any foreign involvement. On 19 August 2020, the European Council called the Belarusian elections neither free nor fair.