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The Kremlin opponent Alexej Navalny, imprisoned in a Russian penal camp, has called for more efforts to protect human rights around the world.
Miami / Moscow – “Politics should be about the fight for human rights, not about gas pipelines and vague” security cooperation “,” he said according to the manuscript read out at the Oslo Freedom Forum conference in Miami, Florida . The opposition team distributed the text on Wednesday. Human rights issues should no longer be “the last, least important point” at meetings of heads of state and government. According to the organizers, Navalny wrote the speech in a prison camp east of Moscow where he has been held for months. He barely survived an attack with the chemical warfare agent Novichok in August last year. The West has repeatedly called on Russia to investigate the case.
According to the US State Department, the US and 44 other countries have now sent Russia questions “about the poisoning of Mr. Alexej Navalny on Russian soil”. Moscow should answer it within ten days. The announcement following a meeting of the Organization for a Ban on Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said the lack of transparency and cooperation was worrying. Laboratories of the Bundeswehr as well as in France, Sweden and at the OPCW proved the illegal warfare agent Novitschok. Russia has denied involvement in the case and requested evidence to support the allegations. Navalny blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin personally for the attack. (dpa)