On Friday, 29 January, the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Saeima adopted a statement On the detention of of Alexei Navalny, oppression and persecution of democratic opposition in the Russian Federation. In the Statement, MPs call for an immediate and unconditional release of Aleksei Navalny and an investigation into the poisoning.
“In response to the detention of Aleksei Navalny and with reference to the Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime introduced by the European Union, we call on the Russian public authorities to immediately discontinue the persecution, intimidation and suppression, as well as other forms of violations of the human rights of their political opponents and social activists,” said Rihards Kols, Chair of the Committee.
We also recommend the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Latvia to take an active stand on this matter and substantially intensify the EU response by establishing restrictive measures, Kols added.
The Statement strongly condemns the illegal and politically motivated detention of Aleksei Navalny upon his return to Russia, carried out by the Russian authorities in an attempt to silence the opposition and critics of the regime.
The document reminds of the international obligations of Russia that call for adherence to the principles of the rule of law and the protection of human rights and freedoms, and that the detention of political opponents does not comply with these obligations.
The Foreign Affairs Committee points out in the Statement that in August 2020, on Russian territory, Aleksei Navalny fell victim to a ruthless crime – a poisoning attempt using a military-grade nerve agent from the “Novichok” group developed by Russia – and that Russia still has not opened a criminal investigation into this crime.
It is underlined in the Statement that, according to the Chemical Weapons Convention, any attempt to poison an individual using a neuroparalytic agent is considered use of chemical weapons, and regardless of the attacker or the circumstances, is a severe violation of international and human rights standards.
Furthermore, the Statement urges the Russian Federation as the permanent member of the UN Security Council and an elected member state to the UN Human Rights Council to uphold in its territory the principles and human rights enshrined in the UN Charter.
Saeima Press Service