A French court dismissed the Navalny family's defamation lawsuit against "Yves Rocher."

2025-02-05 07:06:08https://svoboda.org/a/sud-vo-frantsii-otklonil-isk-navaljnyh-o-klevete-protiv-iv-roshe/33303050.html

The statement made by the company in 2012 to the Investigative Committee served as the basis for criminal prosecution and the conviction of opposition politician Alexei Navalny and his brother Oleg.

Subsequently, "Ivy Roche" claimed that the company did not suffer any damages as a result of its cooperation with the Navalny brothers' company, but their statement continued to be used to pursue the politician and his family for several years – in 2014, Oleg Navalny was sentenced based on it, and in 2021, Alexei Navalny was arrested.

Oleg Navalny spent three and a half years in prison for this case, while Alexei Navalny was detained immediately upon his return to Russia on January 17, 2021. Ultimately, Navalny remained incarcerated until his death in a penal colony in Kharp in February 2024.

After the politician's death, "Ivy Roche" stated to Novaya Gazeta that they do not see a connection with the company's statement to the Investigative Committee. The politician's death in custody was referred to by company representatives as a "tragedy," while the statement made to the head of the Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrykin, by the then-director of the Russian branch of "Ivy Roche," Bruno Leproux, was described as a "procedure."

In December 2017, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) recognized the case against the Navalnys as fabricated and demanded the annulment of the sentence. A year later, Oleg and Alexei Navalny filed a lawsuit against "Ivy Roche" for false reporting.
Over the past seven years, several lower courts have sided with the company, stating that there was "no criminal offense" and rejecting the Navalnys' defense motions to summon witnesses to court, including the author of the statement. The Navalnys' lawsuit was filed against an "unknown person," meaning that Bruno Leproux was not a defendant in this case.
After the decision of the Cassation Court, the plaintiffs have the right to appeal to the ECHR.

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