The European Parliament has recently adopted a resolution in relation to the death of prominent Russian opposition politician, Alexei Navalny. In this resolution, the European Parliament has categorically labelled the death of Navalny as a deliberate act of “murder”. Furthermore, the Parliament has placed the blame squarely on Russian President, Vladimir Putin. The resolution attributes both “criminal and political responsibility” to Putin for the death of the opposition leader.
The resolution was approved by a significant majority of the Parliament, with 506 out of the 547 deputies voting in favour of it. This indicates a strong consensus among the European Parliament members regarding the nature and implications of Navalny’s death.
Notably, the resolution does not only concern the death of Alexei Navalny. The European Parliament has also taken a strong stance on the issue of political prisoners in Russia. It has demanded an immediate and unconditional release of all Russian political prisoners. The list of these prisoners includes dozens of names, among which are Vladimir Kara-Murza, Ilya Yashin, Alexei Gorinov. It also includes members of Navalny’s staff, such as Lilia Chanisheva and Ksenia Fadeeva. All these individuals are said to be persecuted by the Russian Federation’s law enforcement agencies.
The resolution also offers a scathing critique of the political system in Russia. It describes the system as being controlled by a “consolidated authoritarian corrupt regime”. The resolution goes further to state that this regime maintains its hold on power through the manipulation and rigging of elections.
