The opposition has to go to a prison camp for three and a half years – with too high a risk for his life, as judges have now decided. The Minister of Justice rejects the judgment.
For the immediate release, the imprisoned opposition member Alexei Navalny European Court of Human Rights has asked Russia. The ECHR published a corresponding interim order in Strasbourg. As a justification, the judges referred to concerns about Navalny’s health and life in Russian custody.
Navalny had made a so-called urgent application for interim measures, which the court has now granted. According to the court, these are binding and are only rarely granted when there is an immediate risk of irreparable damage. Navalny’s life safety was also taken into account in the decision, the instruction applies “with immediate effect,” it said in the decision, which Navalny himself also published.
According to the statutes of the court, Russia is obliged to obey the order. The Russian government reacted promptly, but not in the sense of judgment. Justice Minister Konstantin Tschuitschenko spoke of an “unprecedented demand”. This is a “clear and gross interference” in the judiciary of a sovereign state. According to the Interfax agency, there is no basis under Russian law to release “this person” from prison.
The Duma Legal Committee, Mikhail Emelyanov, believes it is unlikely that his country will comply. He referred to the new constitution, which puts Russia’s national interests above international law.