Forty-three countries called, on Monday 4 March, for an “independent and transparent international investigation” into the death of Alexei Navalny (see EUROPE 13352/26), saying that “ ultimate responsibility” for his death “lies with President Putin and the Russian authorities”.
“Mr Navalny’s unexpected and shocking death is yet another sign of the accelerating and systematic repression in Russia”, stressed the EU Member States, as well as the United States, the United Kingdom and Ukraine, in a joint statement issued by Ambassador Lotte Knudsen, Head of the Delegation of the European Union to the United Nations, at the 55th session of the UN Human Rights Council.
The countries concerned also strongly called on Russia to immediately and unconditionally release all other political prisoners as well as human rights defenders, journalists and anti-war activists arbitrarily detained “for peacefully exercising their human rights and opposing Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine”.
“We call on the Russian Federation to end this climate of impunity and create a safe environment for political opposition and critical voices (and...) to abolish its oppressive legislation and end to political misuse of the judiciary”, the signatories added.
To see the statement: https://aeur.eu/f/b4g (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)