On Thursday, 4 February, the Saeima issued a statement on the sentencing of Aleksei Navalny and the suppression and persecution of the democratic opposition, civil society and the media in the Russian Federation. In the statement, Latvian parliamentarians call for immediate and unconditional release of Mr Navalny, as well as an investigation into his poisoning.
“In response to the detention of Mr Navalny and the prison sentence he received on 2 February, as well as on the basis of the EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime, we call on the Russian authorities to immediately cease the persecution, intimidation and suppression, as well as other forms of violations of the human rights of their political opponents, the media and social activists,” emphasised Rihards Kols, Chair of the Saeima Foreign Affairs Committee.
We recommend the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Latvia to call on its international partners to take an active stand on this matter and substantially intensify the European Union (EU) response by establishing restrictive measures. We also urge the parliaments of the EU and the Council of Europe member states to take an active stand on this matter, said Kols, quoting the statement.
In the statement, the Saeima strongly condemns the illegal and politically motivated detention of Aleksei Navalny and the subsequent court ruling 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 refers to 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 states that the detention of political opponents does not comply with these obligations.
In their statement, Latvian parliamentarians point out that in August last year, 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 matter.
The statement also reminds that, according to the Chemical Weapons Convention, any attempt to poison an individual using a neuroparalytic agent is considered use of chemical weapons. The use of chemical weapons is a severe violation of international and human rights standards regardless of the attacker or the circumstances.
The parliamentarians urge 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