Europe’s top human rights court ruled on Tuesday that Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s conviction for fraud in 2014 had been “arbitrary and manifestly unreasonable” and ordered Russia to pay him compensation.
“We have won. Thanks everyone for support,” tweeted Navalny, who campaigns against corruption among Russia’s elite and hopes to run against Russian leader Vladimir Putin in a presidential election next March.
The European Court of Human Rights said Navalny and his brother Oleg’s convictions for fraud and money laundering were based on an unforeseeable application of criminal law and that the proceedings were arbitrary and unfair.
