Russia considers the demand of the European Court of Human Rights to release Alexei Navalny from custody unprecedented and claims that it is not feasible, since there are no legal grounds for it.
This was stated by the Minister of Justice of Russia Konstantin Chuichenko.
“The demand received today from the ECHR for Navalny’s release is unprecedented for several reasons. First, it is a clear and gross interference in the activities of the judicial power of a sovereign state. Secondly, this requirement is unfounded and illegal, since it does not contain any indication of a single fact or a single rule of law that would allow the court to make such a decision, ” Chuichenko said.
“Third, the requirement is deliberately unenforceable, since in accordance with Russian law there are no legal grounds for the release of this person from custody,” the Russian minister added.
Shevchenko also said that ” the European judges have made a clear political decision, which can only make it more difficult to restore constructive relations with the institutions of the Council of Europe.”
Recall that the European Court of Human Rights applied rule 39 of the Rules of Court, ordering the Russian government to immediately release Navalny from the pre-trial detention center.
Rule 39 of the ECHR Rules provides for the application of provisional measures in cases where there is a risk of causing unjustified and unavoidable harm to fundamental human rights and freedoms.
It is the first time that the ECHR obliges the state to release a detainee for the duration of a pre-trial investigation on a complaint of political persecution, even before the consideration of the merits of this complaint in Strasbourg.
Previously, demands for immediate release under “rule 39” were accepted only in cases where the detention threatened the life of suspects.
