The PACE is calling for an investigation into Navalny's poisoning
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has called on Russia to investigate the poisoning of jailed main opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
In a resolution passed with 86 votes in favor and 14 against, the PACE called on Russia to release Navalny, to conduct an "independent inquiry" without the involvement of the Russian Security Service (FSB) and to allow visits by representatives of the International Atomic Energy Agency. Chemical Weapons Prohibition (OPCW).
Navalny was the victim of severe poisoning in Siberia. He was being treated in Germany, where traces of a nerve agent from the Soviet era were discovered. He was subsequently arrested on January 17, 2021, upon his return to Moscow. Russia has never opened an investigation, claiming there was no indication of poisoning.
Navalny is currently serving a two-and-a-half-year prison sentence for violating a previous suspended sentence by staying in Germany, where he was recovering from poisoning, which he blamed on the Kremlin. The winter session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe is underway in Strasbourg. Resolutions of that body that makes recommendations or calls governments to account for human rights are not binding.