Deputies of the European Parliament adopted a resolution stating that responsibility for the murder of opposition leader Alexei Navalny in the Kharp colony lies with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Its text is published on the website of the representative body.
The European Parliament expressed condolences to Navalny’s family, the politician’s colleagues and “his countless supporters throughout Russia.” The deputies also decided to question the legitimacy of Vladimir Putin.
The representative body called on the Russian authorities to allow the family of Alexei Navalny to bury his body as his relatives wish, and also demanded “an independent and transparent international investigation into the exact circumstances of the death of Alexei Navalny and the identification of those responsible.” In addition, the deputies expressed solidarity with all Russians who, despite repression, continue to “tell the truth and fight for a democratic and peaceful future for Russia.”
The European Parliament demanded “the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners,” among whom the resolution highlighted Vladimir Kara-Murza, Yuri Dmitriev, Ilya Yashin, Alexey Gorinov, Liliya Chanysheva, Ksenia Fadeeva, Vadim Ostanin, Daniel Kholodny, Victoria Petrova, Maria Ponomarenko, Sasha Skochilenko, Alexey Liptser, Svetlana Petriychuk, Zhenya Berkovich, Dmitry Ivanov, Ioann Kurmoyarov, Igor Baryshnikov, Dmitry Talantov, Alexey Moskalev, Oleg Orlov and Ivan Safronov.
Deputies called on the UN Human Rights Council to investigate the facts of torture and murder of critics of the regime of Vladimir Putin, and the Russian authorities to “immediately stop the use of torture” and repeal laws on “censorship of true information about the aggressive war against Ukraine,” “foreign agents” and “undesirables.” organizations.»
The resolution also speaks of the need to expand programs for issuing humanitarian visas from EU countries to human rights defenders, pro-democracy activists and independent journalists from Russia who are at risk of political persecution. The deputies called on the authorities of European countries to simplify for them the processes of opening bank accounts, legal entities and other bureaucratic procedures.
In addition, the European Parliament condemned the “imperialist and neocolonial policies of the Russian regime,” the war in Ukraine and the violation of international law, including the Russian presidential elections, which will be held in the occupied territories.
506 members of the European Parliament voted for the resolution, 9 were against it. Another 32 people abstained.