Swift Comments on European Court of Human Rights Verdict Involving Russian Dissidents

Partner Christopher Swift was quoted in a Polygraph.info article, “Navalny vs. Russian Federation – and the winner is …,” about a European Court of Human Rights ruling in favor of Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny and his brother, Oleg.

The court held that the two activists, who had been found guilty of fraud in a Russian court, were convicted without a legal basis and were denied their right to a fair trial. It awarded them 10,000 euros each, along with their legal costs and expenses, though it rejected their claim that their prosecution had been politically motivated.

Swift said the Russian Justice Ministry’s claim of victory in the case “mischaracterizes [the] implications” of the verdict: that the Navalny brothers “were deprived of their right to a fair trial and punished unfairly” by Russia.

He also said the brothers’ appeal to the European court did not circumvent Russian law. “They’re pursuing the last appeal available to them in a forum that the Russian government accepted when it signed the [European] Convention [on Human Rights],” he said.