Strasbourg, 17/03/2008 (Agence Europe) - In a common resolution adopted on Thursday 13 March in Strasbourg, the European Parliament denounces the violent arrests of political opponents that followed the elections in Russia on 2 March, and condemns the flagging democracy in this country.
On 3 March this year, the Other Russia, a coalition of opposition parties, organised a “march of disagreement” to protest against Russia's presidential elections the previous Sunday. Several demonstrators, including the leader of the Union of Right Forces Party, Nikita Belykh, and the leader of the Iabloko Party in Saint Petersburg, Maxime Reznik, were violently arrested by riot police and militia at Tourgueniev Square in central Moscow.
The EP condemns the disproportionate use of force by police and riot police and militias against the demonstrators, and calls on the authorities to investigate the incidents and to bring those responsible to justice. It calls for the immediate release of all those demonstrators who are still detained. Furthermore, the European Parliament welcomes the stated commitment by the newly elected president of Russia, Dimitry Medvedev, to guarantee the rule of law and democracy. Medvedev is requested to review the treatment of imprisoned public figures (including Mihail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev) whose imprisonment has been assessed by most observers as having been politically motivated.
The EP calls on the newly elected Russian president to create with the EU “the necessary conditions for a rapid start of the negotiations on a new Partnership and Cooperation Agreement between the EU and Russia”. It stresses once more in this regard that respect for the rule of law, democracy and human rights must be an important part of any future agreement with Russia. (L.C.)