Press release, 3 February 2021
In response to the ruling of the Moscow court imposing a 3.5-year imprisonment sentence on Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny, the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania strongly condemned Russia’s unlawful and politically motivated acts and demanded the immediate release of Alexei Navalny and of thousands of unlawfully detained persons supporting him.
With a view to influencing the Russian regime, the Committee on Foreign Affairs calls on the institutions of the European Union and international organisations to take specific measures, including the urgent raising of the issue at the UN Security Council, the application of the European Union Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime, and suspension of the mandate of the delegation of the Russian Federation at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.
Full statement by the Committee:
The Committee on Foreign Affairs of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania,
having regard to the ruling of the court of the Russian Federation of 2 February 2021 imposing three and a half years of suspended sentence on Alexei Navalny, detained leader of the Russian opposition, as well as to the detentions of thousands of peaceful citizens of the Russian Federation expressing support for Alexei Navalny,
taking note of the fact that Alexei Navalny had been repeatedly unlawfully detained and imprisoned by the authorities of the Russian Federation, as well as of the fact that the Russian special services attempted to poison him using the nerve agent, Novichok, developed in Russian laboratories and prohibited by international treaties,
recalling, however, the failure of the Russian Federation to honour the international commitments undertaken in the framework of its membership of the Council of Europe, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and the United Nations,
having regard to the joint statements by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Baltic States and the Member States of the European Union on the unlawful detention and imprisonment of Alexei Navalny,
strongly condemns the unlawful and politically motivated measures by the Russian Federation to detain and imprison opposition leader Alexei Navalny;
notes that such measures taken by the government of the Russian Federation are contrary to the universally recognised principles of human rights and freedoms and democratic values, grossly violate the European Convention on Human Rights as the framework agreement of the Council of Europe, and demonstrate that the Kremlin is not prepared to change its aggressive and cynical stance towards the political opposition and civil society;
demands that the authorities of the Russian Federation immediately release Alexei Navalny and thousands of unlawfully detained citizens of the Russian Federation supporting him and investigate the attempts to poison him;
calls on the authorities of the Russian Federation to end the persecution of political opposition, non-governmental and civil society organisations, independent media and journalists;
invites and urges the institutions of the European Union to apply the European Union Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime, approved by the Council on 7 December 2020, to the representatives of the Russian Federation responsible for the unlawful detention and imprisonment of Alexei Navalny and to also to consider the issue of extending the scope of sanctions at the Foreign Affairs Council meeting on 22 February 2021;
proposes that the United Nations Security Council consider, as a matter of urgency, the issue of unlawful imprisonment of Alexei Navalny and the unprecedented use of repression and brutal force against and mass detentions of peaceful demonstrators;
invites the Russian Federation to comply with its obligations to the supremacy of international law, including the implementation of the rulings of the European Court of Human Rights in respect of Alexei Navalny;
calls on the member states of the Council of Europe, its Committee of Ministers and the Parliamentary Assembly to consider without delay the issue of sanctions against Russia and to suspend the mandate of the delegation of the Russian Federation in this Assembly at the next plenary session of the Parliamentary Assembly;
invites international partners and allies to adopt the laws referred to as Magnitsky-style laws and to prohibit entry into their countries to the representatives of the Russian Federation responsible for the unlawful detention and imprisonment of Alexei Navalny and for systematic violations of human rights.
Pranešimą paskelbė: Monika Kutkaitytė, Lietuvos Respublikos Seimo kanceliarija
