In a statement issued by representatives from Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Georgia, Poland, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), MPs condemn violence against peaceful protesters in Russia kindled by the detention of Aleksei Navalny, and call for immediate release of Navalny and an investigation into his poisoning. 

“We express concern about the repressions and violence against representatives of civil society and independent mass media after the arrest of Aleksei Navalny. We condemn the violence and brutality of the Russian special police forces and authorities against peaceful demonstrators,” emphasised Inese Lībiņa‑Egnere, Head of the Latvian delegation to PACE, on behalf of the Baltic+ Group countries. 

In the Statement, the representatives recommend the governments of the respective Council of Europe member states to call on their international partners to take an active stand on this matter and substantially intensify the European Union response by establishing restrictive measures. Moreover, the authors of the Statement call on the parliaments of member states of the European Union and the Council of Europe to take an active stand on this matter. 

In the Statement, the MPs strongly condemn 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 require 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, the PACE members 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. 

In the Statement, MPs of the Baltic States, Georgia, Poland, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom call on the Russian authorities to immediately discontinue the persecution, intimidation and suppression, as well as other forms of violations of the human rights of their political opponents, media and social activists. 

Saeima Press Service