Luise Amtsberg, the German government’s Commissioner for Human Rights Policy and Humanitarian Aid, made a statement on Friday, August 19, on the occasion of the second anniversary of the attempt on the life of Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny on August 20. 2020. It was published on the website of the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Louise Amtsberg expressed respect for democracy fighters in Russia

Recalling the poison attack on Alexei Navalny two years ago in Russia, which he barely survived, Louise Amtsberg stressed that even after this assassination attempt, the opposition politician, who opposes the looting of his state by political elites, has returned. to Russia on 17 January. 2021.

“As the Russian authorities, in violation of their international obligations, failed to investigate the case of attempted assassination using an internationally banned chemical warfare agent for two years, the alleged perpetrators cannot be arrested or punished,” Amtsberg said.

The German Ombudsman expressed his indignation that people who did not commit the atrocity, and Alexei Navalny, have been held in politically motivated sentences since the day he returned to Russia, and his detention in the colony was arbitrarily extended in March for another nine years.

“On this anniversary, we once again call for his release! We express our respect to him and the courageous people who are fighting for democracy and human rights in Russia and condemning Russia’s aggressive war against Ukraine,” said the Commissioner for Politics of Human Rights of the German government.

Poisoning by Alexei Navalny

Alexei Navalny lost consciousness on August 20, 2020 on the Tomsk-Moscow flight. The ocean liner made an emergency landing in Omsk. Navalny, in an unconscious state, was connected to a ventilator. His associates said he was probably poisoned. Omsk doctors denied poisoning.

On 22 August, the opposition politician, who was in a coma, was taken to Berlin. Doctors at the Charité clinic discovered that he had signs of poisoning with a substance from the group of cholinesterase inhibitors, after which the German chancellor and the foreign minister asked Moscow to bring those responsible for the poisoning to justice. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, EU Chief Diplomat Josep Borrell and US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo demanded an independent investigation.

On September 2, the conclusion by Bundeswehr toxicologists was made public that Navalny’s samples undoubtedly contained traces of a nerve agent from the Novichok family. German Chancellor Angela Merkel called his poisoning “an attempt to assassinate one of Russia’s top opposition politicians”.

Real term in Russia

After completing a course of rehabilitation, Navalny returned to his homeland on January 17, where he was immediately arrested. The politician was accused of violating parole rules in the Yves Rocher case. In February, a Russian court replaced the suspended sentence policy in the Yves Rocher case with a real one. Taking into account house arrest, the oppositionist must spend 2 years and 6 months in preventive detention.

In March 2022, Moscow’s Lefortovo Court sentenced Navalny to 9 years in a strict regime colony with a fine of 1.2 million rubles at an external hearing. The politician was found guilty of particularly large-scale fraud, as well as contempt of court.