European Parliament Condemns Putin for Navalny Murder: Demands Transparent Investigation

2024-03-01 03:01:00
The European Parliament accused Vladimir Putin of murdering the opponent Alexei Navalny and demanded a transparent investigation (REUTERS)

The European Parliament approved this Thursday a declaration in which it expresses its “strong” rejection of the “murder” of the Russian opponent Alexei Navalny by President Vladimir Putin.

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“The Russian Government and Vladimir Putin personally bear criminal and political responsibility for the murder of their most prominent opponent, Alexei Navalny,” who was serving an “unfounded and politically motivated” sentence in a prison in the Arctic Circle, the article reads. text that obtained the support of 506 members of the European Parliament, with only 9 votes once morest and 32 abstentions. Next, an “independent and transparent” international investigation is demanded into the exact circumstances of the activist’s unusual death, which will allow “accountability and justice” to be guaranteed in this case.

Also, the MEPs urged the Russian authorities to allow the activist’s relatives to celebrate his funeral this Friday in a church in the Moscow district of Marino, southeast of Moscow. This episode will come following weeks of struggle by her mother, Lyudmila Navalnaya, to obtain possession of the body and permission to view it in public, along with her followers and those close to her.

The Parliamentarians pointed out that Navalny was serving an “unfounded and politically motivated” sentence in a prison in the Arctic Circle (AP)

We do not know if the funeral will be “peaceful” or if the police will burst in and arrest “those who come to say their last goodbye,” said his relatives, who fear that the scenes of last February 16, in monuments and squares throughout the country , with followers paying tribute and demanding the death of the activist, will be repeated in the next few hours.

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Finally, the letter extends its “deepest condolences” to Navalny’s family and colleagues, especially his wife Yulia Navalnaya, to whom they expressed their “full support” in her determination to continue her partner’s work, and calls for the “immediate and unconditional” withdrawal of all “arbitrary” charges once morest other political prisoners and unjustly detained people.

The Parliament’s statement was added to that of other leaders of the European community, such as the French president, Emmanuel Macron; the American, Joe Biden; the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz; and the president of the European Commission herself, Úrsula von der Leyen, who, upon hearing the news, did not take long to take aim at the Kremlin.

The international community was quick to charge Vladimir Putin for the death of the activist (REUTERS)

“What happened to Navalny is further proof of Putin’s brutality, no one should be fooled, Putin is responsible for Navalny’s death,” Biden said while Macron demanded “explanations without delay” from Russia.

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For her part, Yulia thanked the parliamentarians for their initiative but warned them that this type of action has no effect on Putin, who manages to continue his authoritarianism anyway.

“If they really want to overthrow Putin, they have to be innovative and stop being boring. They cannot harm him with another resolution or another package of sanctions that is in no way different from the previous ones, or by thinking that he is someone who has moral principles. We are not addressing a politician but a monster,” the widow expressed during her speech.

Yulia Navalnaya warned that “we are not addressing a politician but a monster” when referring to Putin (REUTERS)

“They made him starve in a tiny cell, isolated from the outside world, without visits, calls or letters,” he exemplified in that sense.

(With information from EFE)

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