German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, head of EU diplomacy Josep Borrell and German Ombudswoman Louise Amtsberg spoke out in support of Alexei Navalny on the second anniversary of the oppositionist's poisoning.
According to Scholz, he met Navalny when he was being treated at the German clinic Charite after being poisoned. The chancellor added that in Russia even before the war, freedom and democracy «were under the threat of destruction», but now people have become even more afraid to express their opinion.
«There was a plane and I died in it.» Interview with Alexei Navalny
“That is why it is so important these days to think about Alexei Navalny, who remains the same courageous person and still stands up for his principles, which give many Russian citizens a good perspective. Namely, the realization that it is better to live in a democratic rule of law,” the Chancellor said.
Borrel also called on Russia to comply with the decision of the ECtHR and release the oppositionist from the colony. Also, the head of EU diplomacy added that the EU regrets the recognition of Navalny's organizations as «extremist», disciplinary sanctions imposed on the politician in custody, and increased internal repression in Russia.
“We call on Russia to fulfill its obligations under the Chemical Weapons Conventions and immediately conduct a completely transparent investigation, and cooperate fully with the OPCW,” Borrell said in a statement.
Amtsberg added: “In On this anniversary, we again call for his (Aleksey Navalny — MZ) release! She recalled that the Russian authorities did not investigate the poisoning of the politician, and he himself is in a colony.
A post appeared on Navalny's Telegram channel today, which begins with the words “August 20. I am celebrating my second birthday for the second time. The day when they killed me, but for some reason I didn’t kill myself. ” As he noted, no criminal case has been initiated against the FSB officers, who are considered involved in the poisoning, and no investigation is underway.
“From the fact that I survived, the Kremlin caught such an upset that they put me first for 3.5 years, and then for 9 years <…> This is what it means to unsuccessfully smear underpants with Novichok, ”concluded the oppositionist.
Poisoning of Navalny
Navalny was poisoned on August 20, 2020. He became ill on the Tomsk-Moscow flight, the pilots landed the plane in Omsk. The politician spent two days in a Russian clinic, after which he was transferred to Charite. European experts came to the conclusion that the politician was poisoned with a substance from the Novichok group. To this day, the Russian authorities deny their involvement in the incident.
At the end of 2020, Navalny released a video in which he named FSB officers as participants in his poisoning. The politician also published a recording of a telephone conversation with Konstantin Kudryavtsev, where he recounted his version of the events related to the poisoning and named the place where the poisonous substance was applied — the codpiece of cowards.
After the return of the oppositionist to Moscow from Germany, he was detained. A few days later, the Simonovsky District Court of Moscow replaced Navalny with a suspended sentence in the «Yves Rocher case» to the real one. Then the Lefortovsky District Court of Moscow, at an off-site meeting, sentenced him to nine years in a strict regime colony in the case of fraud in collecting donations, as well as contempt of court when considering a case of libel against veteran Ignat Artemenko.
Now the oppositionist is in the Vladimir colony No. 6 of a strict regime. Already a prisoner, Navalny created the Promzona trade union, with the help of which he plans to enforce the rights of convicts. On August 17, it became known that after the dissemination of information about the association, the politician was placed in a ShIZO. » alt=»1″ />«Don't worry, I'll be released no later than spring of 2051. A guide to Navalny's criminal cases