PARIS: The family of late Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny is considering taking France to the European Court of Human Rights in a case that implicates French cosmetics firm Yves Rocher, a lawyer said on Tuesday.
In 2014, Navalny and his brother Oleg were found guilty of fraud and money laundering via their transport and logistics firm which was working with Yves Rocher.
The brothers later took Yves Rocher to court in France over alleged false accusations but their complaint was dismissed by the courts.
“We are considering taking the case to the European Court of Human Rights,” said William Bourdon, who represents Navalny’s family.
“It was our duty to go all the way with his wife, in memory of Alexei,” he said, referring to the opposition politician’s widow Yulia Navalnaya.
In 2013, Russian investigators accused the Navalny brothers of “stealing” and laundering millions of rubles from Yves Rocher and a Russian firm.
The indictment followed a protracted investigation, which Navalny dismissed as persecution over his political activities.
Oleg served three-and-a-half years in prison and was released in 2018, while Alexei received a three-and-a-half-year suspended sentence.
Yves Rocher, one of the first foreign cosmetics brands to enter Russia in 1991 after the Soviet Union’s demise, eventually acknowledged publically that it had sustained “no damage” in the money laundering case.
But in 2021, Russian authorities used the old embezzlement charges to jail Navalny. He died three years later in unclear circumstances, with his family saying he was killed on President Vladimir Putin’s orders.
“I’m in jail due to a criminal complaint by a French company,” Navalny said in 2022, referring to Yves Rocher.
In 2017, the European Court of Human Rights denounced the Russian court for its original ruling that was “arbitrary and manifestly unreasonable,” ordering that the brothers be paid 83,000 euros ($93,000) in damages and costs.
Alexei and Oleg Navalny then filed a false accusation complaint in the western French city of Vannes, nor far from Yves Rocher’s headquarters, and an inquiry was opened in 2019.
“We do believe that we will find here a real and fair justice which unfortunately we cannot find in Russia,” Alexei Navalny said at the time.
However, French judges eventually dropped the inquiry, and on Tuesday, the Court of Cassation, the highest court of the French judicial system, upheld the decision after an appeal by Navalny’s family.
“We are disappointed that the Vannes court was too cautious, which benefited Yves Rocher,” said Bourdon.
Navalny family mulls taking France to European court: lawyer
https://arab.news/9pxmh
Navalny family mulls taking France to European court: lawyer
- “We are considering taking the case to the European Court of Human Rights,” said William Bourdon, who represents Navalny’s family
- “It was our duty to go all the way with his wife, in memory of Alexei“
Trump hopes North Carolina speech will bolster standing on US economy
- Trump works to turn around public opinion on economy
- Opinion polls show Americans have doubts
ROCKY MOUNT, North Carolina: US President Donald Trump traveled to the “battleground” state of North Carolina on Friday, seeking to convince Americans that his handling of the economy is sound ahead of a midterm election year that could spell trouble for him and his ruling Republicans.
With prices increasing and unemployment up, Trump has his work cut out for him. A Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Tuesday showed just 33 percent of US adults approve of how Trump has handled the economy.
Trump is set to argue that the US economy is poised for a surge due to his policies and that any problems they are experiencing are the fault of the Democrats.
He contends that he has lowered the price of gasoline, imposed tariffs that are generating billions of dollars for the US Treasury and attracted hundreds of billions of dollars in investment pledges by foreign governments.
Republicans worry, however, that economic woes could jeopardize their chances in elections next November that will decide whether they will keep control of the House of Representatives and the Senate for the remaining two years of Trump’s term.
The speech is taking place at a 9 p.m. rally (0200 GMT Saturday) at the convention center in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. The city is represented by a Democrat in the House, Don Davis, who faces a tough re-election fight in 2026 after the boundaries of his congressional district were redrawn.
North Carolina is considered a “battleground” state because its statewide elections are closely contested between Democrats and Republicans. But Trump won the state in 2016, 2020 and 2024.
The North Carolina event is a stop on the way to his oceanfront Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, where he plans to spend the Christmas and New Year’s holidays.
The US president has repeatedly said that any economic pain Americans are experiencing should be blamed on policies he inherited from his predecessor, Democratic President Joe Biden.
“Eleven months ago, I inherited a mess, and I’m fixing it,” Trump said in a grievance-filled speech on Wednesday night that he delivered in a jarringly rapid-fire pace. Democrats have argued that Trump himself has bungled the economy, the central issue he campaigned on last year.
rump got some early holiday cheer on Thursday from the Consumer Price Index report for November. It said housing costs rose by the smallest margin in four years.
Food costs rose by the least since February. Egg prices — a subject Trump raises regularly — fell for a second month, and by the most in 20 months. The report nonetheless showed that other prices, like beef and electricity, soared.
Overall, prices rose 2.7 percent over the year prior. Asked what his message will be in North Carolina, Trump said it would be similar to his last two events, a prime-time address on Wednesday night and a visit to Pennsylvania last week.
“We’ve had tremendous success. We inherited a mess, and part of what we inherited was the worst inflation in 48 years,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday. “And now we’re bringing those prices down. I’ll be talking about that.”
