European court: Trial against Putin foe Navalny was unfair

Published February 23, 2016

The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that Russia violated opposition leader Alexei Navalny's right to a fair trial, and has ordered the government to pay him €56,000 euros ($61,700) in legal costs and damages.

A leading foe of President Vladimir Putin, Navalny was convicted of embezzlement in 2013 in a trial he called politically motivated. Prosecutors said he was part of a group that embezzled timber worth 16 million rubles ($500,000) from state-owned company Kirovles.

Navalny welcomed Tuesday's ruling, saying in a statement that "the time will come when we can obtain justice in a Russian court, and not only in the ECHR."

The court, based on Strasbourg, France, dismissed other arguments by Navalny and co-defendant Pyotr Ofitserov about what they said was unfair legal treatment.

URL

https://www.foxnews.com/world/european-court-trial-against-putin-foe-navalny-was-unfair