The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ordered Russia to pay opposition politician Aleksei Navalny 2,000 euros ($2,400) in compensation for what it ruled was the unlawful refusal to issue him a passport.
The decision was posted on the court's website on May 15.
The ECHR ruled that the Federal Migration Service's refusal to issue Navalny a passport contradicts the European Convention on Human Rights. It ordered the state to pay the compensation within three months.
Russian authorities refused to issue a passport to Navalny in 2015, saying that he was serving his suspended prison term then and therefore could not be provided with a travel document of any kind.
Navalny has been convicted twice on financial-crimes charges he says were trumped up by the Kremlin as retribution for his opposition to President Vladimir Putin.
Navalny was barred from taking part in the presidential election in March due to the convictions he and supporters contend were fabricated to keep him out of electoral politics.
