The European Court of Human Rights has delivered a wide-ranging judgment concerning 139 applications brought by organisations affiliated with Aleksey Navalnyy, his family members and close associates. Mr Navalnyy, a prominent Russian opposition leader and anti-corruption activist, died on 16 February 2024 while serving a 19-year sentence in a high-security penal colony.
The applicant organisations included the Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK), founded by Mr Navalnyy in 2011, the Foundation for the Protection of Civil Rights (Shtab), the Navalnyy Headquarters network of regional offices, the Foundation for the Defence of Civil Rights (FZPG) and OOO “Strana Prilivov”. Together, they formed an integrated structure supporting Mr Navalnyy’s anti-corruption investigations and political advocacy, including widely viewed publications and documentaries alleging corruption at the highest levels of the Russian state.
From 2019 onwards, the applicants were subjected to a coordinated series of administrative, financial and criminal measures. These followed the opening of money-laundering proceedings against the FBK in July 2019, alleging that over RUB 75 million had been transferred to its accounts by unidentified individuals knowing the funds to be of criminal origin. None of the applicants was ever charged or formally treated as a suspect.
In September and October 2019, approximately 191 searches of homes and offices connected with Mr Navalnyy and the organisations were carried out, including at least 36 without prior judicial authorisation. Mobile phones, computers, documents and production equipment were seized. Courts also ordered the freezing of the applicants’ bank accounts in two waves, beginning in 2019 and continuing into 2020, with extensions granted through collective rulings. All appeals were unsuccessful.
Further measures followed under Russia’s “foreign agent” and “extremist organisation” legislation. In 2019, the FBK was designated a “foreign agent” on the basis of receiving a small foreign donation. In 2021, the FBK, the FZPG and the Navalnyy Headquarters were declared “extremist”, dissolved or banned, and their activities criminalised. By July 2024, more than 50 individuals had faced criminal proceedings for alleged involvement with these organisations, while others were prosecuted for donations or for displaying or reposting material associated with Mr Navalnyy.
Before the Strasbourg Court, the applicants relied on Articles 8, 10, 11, 13 and 18 of the Convention, and Article 1 of Protocol No. 1, complaining of mass searches, seizures, freezing of assets, restrictions on expression and association, and the absence of effective remedies.
The Court confirmed its jurisdiction, as the relevant events pre-dated Russia’s withdrawal from the Convention in September 2022. It found that the search warrants and freezing orders were framed in excessively broad and general terms, lacked individualised reasoning and were not supported by evidence linking specific applicants to the alleged offences. Judicial review of those measures was found to be purely formalistic.
Accordingly, the Court held that the searches, seizures and freezing of bank accounts failed to meet the Convention’s lawfulness requirement, in breach of Article 8 and Article 1 of Protocol No. 1. A separate violation of Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 was found in respect of the seizure and retention of RUB 2.32 million from one applicant without legal basis.
The Court further found that the designation of the FBK as a “foreign agent” and the subsequent classification of the organisations as “extremist” breached Article 11, read in the light of Article 10. It criticised the rigid and formalistic application of the “foreign agent” regime and the overly broad interpretation of “extremism”, which extended to peaceful political expression, association and even minor donations. The resulting criminalisation and stigmatisation of lawful conduct went far beyond legitimate restrictions.
Having regard to the exceptional scale, coordination and cumulative effect of the measures, and the wider context of democratic backsliding and suppression of dissent in Russia, the Court concluded that the stated aims of combating money laundering and extremism were not genuine. Instead, the measures served as a pretext to dismantle independent political and civic structures.
The Court held that the authorities had pursued an ulterior purpose, namely the elimination of organised democratic opposition centred around Mr Navalnyy, in violation of Article 18 taken in conjunction with Articles 8 and 11 of the Convention and Article 1 of Protocol No. 1.