ECtHR recognizes violations of activists’ rights in Southern Russia

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) awarded compensations to activists from Rostov-on-Don Artyom Savchenko, Vladislav Neznamov, Nadezhda Bogdanova, and Valeria Bukreeva, who were arrested after participating in protests against the special military operation in Ukraine and in support of Alexei Navalny*.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that in December, the ECtHR awarded compensations to activists from Volgograd, Rostov-on-Don, and Stavropol, recognizing that they were illegally arrested after participating in the protests against the special military operation (SMO) in Ukraine and in support of Alexei Navalny*.

The ECtHR recognized violations in the detention of Artyom Savchenko at a rally in support of Alexei Navalny* in January 2021 and in the detentions of Vladislav Neznamov, Nadezhda Bogdanova, and Valeria Bukreeva at the protests against the special military operation in Ukraine, the “Kavkaz.Realii”** reports.

According to the ECtHR’s resolution, the violations include unlawful detention, violation of the right to an impartial trial, and immediate execution of an arrest order.

In addition, the ECtHR recognized violations committed during the detention in 2018 of Gabriel Arutyunov, a resident of Adygea, and obliged the Russian authorities to pay him a compensation of 3000 euros.

*On January 25, 2022, the “Rosfinmonitoring” (the Russian Federal Service for Financial Monitoring) included Alexei Navalny into the register of extremists and terrorists. He is a founder of the Anti-Corruption Foundation (known as FBK), an NCO that is included by the Russian Ministry of Justice (MoJ) in the register of NCOs performing functions of a foreign agent, recognized as extremist and banned in the Russian Federation. Convicted on probation in a case on fraud. In February 2021, the term was replaced with imprisonment. In a penal colony, Alexei Navalny was charged with fraud and contempt of court and sentenced to 9 years of imprisonment. Furthermore, Alexei Navalny was also sentenced to 19 years of imprisonment in a case on disorganizing the penal colony, extremism, and rehabilitation of Nazism. In April 2023, Alexei Navalny announced that he faced life imprisonment in the case on terrorism. Recognized as a “prisoner of conscience.” The “Caucasian Knot” material “Navalny: Caucasian Dimension” sets out the oppositionist’s views on problems related to the Caucasus. The Alexei Navalny’s offices, which previously operated in the Russian regions, are recognized in Russia as extremist organizations and included in the list of prohibited organizations.

**Included by the Russian Ministry of Justice (MoJ) into the register of foreign agents.