France: Navalny hails European Court ruling as 'very fair judgement'

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny said that the ruling of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) was "a very fair judgement," when speaking to the press following the court session in Strasbourg on Thursday.
Navalny said that the European Court passed a landmark ruling, recognising that his arrests in Russia were "politically motivated."
The Russian opposition leader said that the ruling is of vital importance not only for him but also for other Russian people who face detentions.
He went on to say that "we kind of opened the road for the recognition of this Article 18, for [the recognition of the] political motivations in their cases, especially for people in regions, especially people who are living under much more pressure than me."
The European Court ruling, which is binding on Russia as a member of the Council of Europe, has reportedly ordered the Russian government to pay Navalny €63,000 ($71,000) in damages.
Between 2012 and 2014, Navalny was arrested on seven occasions for either breaching the established procedure for conducting rallies or resisting police orders.
The court ruling comes after both Navalny and Russian authorities appealed a February 2017 decision by the court which rejected the accusation of "political motivations" but condemned Russia for violating Navalny's rights to "liberty", freedom of assembly and fair trials.