One of the main opponents of the Kremlin still living in Russia, Vladimir Kara-Mourza, had Moscow condemned on Tuesday by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) for having canceled his candidacy for elections on the grounds that he had dual nationality, Russian and British.
Currently imprisoned for having denounced the conflict in Ukraine, Mr. Kara-Mourza had then seen his candidacy for regional elections invalidated by the Russian courts "
on the sole ground of his dual nationality
", in this case which dates back to 2013, recalls the Court .
Read alsoRussia decides to no longer apply the judgments of the ECHR
He has held Russian citizenship since birth and obtained British citizenship after moving to the UK with his mother when he was 15, the court explains.
The opponent had notably argued that the ban which had struck him affected, according to him, "
a large number of Russian nationals since many are those who have obtained the nationality of the new countries which were formed after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
“, continues the Court.
In its judgment, the ECHR ruled in favor of Mr. Kara-Mourza, concluding that Moscow had violated Article 3 of Protocol No. 1, which guarantees the right to free elections.
Vladimir Kara-Mourza was arrested in April after having repeatedly criticized the Russian military intervention in Ukraine, especially on social networks.
He faces ten years in prison.
Read alsoUkraine: the ECHR asks Russia to respect prisoners of war
Moscow has also placed him on the list of "
foreign agents
", an infamous designation reminiscent of that of "
enemy of the people
" under the Soviet Union.
Aged 41, Vladimir Kara-Mourza is a former journalist close to opponent Boris Nemtsov, assassinated not far from the Kremlin in 2015, and Mikhail Khodorkovsky, ex-oligarch who became a critic of Vladimir Putin.
Mr. Kara-Mourza, who is one of the last major opponents living in Russia, also claims to have been poisoned twice, in 2015 and 2017, because of his political activities.
Russia left the Council of Europe and its judicial arm, the ECHR, on September 16 after being expelled due to the invasion of Ukraine.
Moscow, on the other hand, remains dependent on all violations of the European Convention on Human Rights that it may have committed up to that date.
