Support The Moscow Times!

ECHR Rules Russia Must Pay Navalny €56,000 Over KirovLes Case

Russian opposition leader and anti-corruption blogger Alexei Navalny

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ruled that there were violations in the KirovLes embezzlement case against opposition leader Alexei Navalny and Pyotr Ofitserov, according to a statement published on the court's official website Tuesday.

ECHR accused Russia of violating Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which grants European citizens the right to a fair trial, and ruled that it must pay Navalny and Ofitserov €8,000 ($8,834) each as compensation for moral damages.

Russia is also obliged to pay Navalny and Ofitserov €48,000 ($52,881) and €23,000 ($25,333) respectively in order to cover their legal costs, the RBC news agency reported.

Navalny and Ofitserov were convicted in 2013 of embezzlement of property belonging to the KirovLes timber company and condemned to five and four years in prison respectively. The sentences were later replaced with probation, RBC reported.

Read more