Washington on Friday accused Moscow of failing to respect the rights of imprisoned Russian opponent Alexei Navalny, Vladimir Putin’s main critic, in particular by not allowing him to “communicate freely with his lawyer.”
“Political-motivated harassment”, according to his lawyer
“The United States is deeply concerned that the Russian government is increasingly and arbitrarily interfering with the rights of Alexei Navalny,” US State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement.
“The prison authorities interfered in the preparation of his defense and in his ability to communicate freely with his lawyer,” for example by monitoring his meetings or causing delays in the exchange of documents, he explained.
It concerns “further evidence of politically motivated harassment” against Alexei Navalny, as well as “his repeated solitary confinement for alleged minor offences,” Ned Price continued.
This highlights “the fear felt by those who tell the truth” in Russia, he concluded, and called once again for the immediate release of the opponent.
Navalny says he is deprived of confidential talks with his lawyers
On Thursday, Alexei Navalny claimed to have been deprived of confidential talks with his lawyers.
In addition, according to him, each document exchanged with his defense will now be subject to a “verification for three days” by the prison administration.
“In truth, there is nothing left, formally, of my defense rights, which were already quite illusory,” lamented this 46-year-old anti-corruption activist.
Last March, Alexeï Navalny was sentenced to nine years in prison under a “severe” regime for embezzlement charges that he considers fictitious.
Source: BFM TV
