The court also found [press release, PDF] that Navalny’s brother, Oleg Navalyy, was also unfairly and arbitrarily convicted for the same offenses. “[T]he Court concludes that in the determination of the criminal charges against the applicants the offence set out in Article 159.4 of the Criminal Code [of Russia], in force at the time of their conviction, was extensively and unforeseeably construed to their detriment.”
The Russian Justice Ministry has reported [TASS report] that they could potentially appeal the ruling within three months.
While this case stems from a 2014 arrest of the brothers, Alexei Navalny has claimed that his many convictions are politically motivated. Navalny stated on his personal website [text, in Russian]: “All this was arranged only for one purpose: to prevent my anti-corruption and political activities through pressure on me and my family.” The ECHR did not rule on whether the Russian courts’ actions were politically motivated.
The European Court of Human Rights’ View of the Draft Copenhagen Declaration