Week-ending 4 September 2020
“The Russian authorities must immediately open an investigation into the apparent use of a banned chemical weapon to poison an opposition leader. Failure to do so will heighten suspicions that top-level Russian officials were involved in this crime or its cover-up. The Russian authorities deny involvement in the attempted murder of Navalny, a prominent government critic, but have so far failed to address the implications of the finding that he was poisoned with a chemical weapon. In 2017, Russian authorities stated that they had destroyed their entire chemical weapons stockpile. If this is true, one must question whether the Russian government has lost control to the extent that chemical weapons can be freely produced and distributed on its own soil. The only other conclusion to be drawn is that Russian authorities have misled the international community and do in fact still possess chemical weapons – and use them to eliminate political rivals. Both of these prospects are appalling, and the Kremlin must provide answers. The world must know the truth about this brazen attempt on the life of a Russian opposition leader.”
– Marie Struthers, Amnesty International’s Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia
Source: ‘Russia: Kremlin must explain the use of nerve agent to poison Aleksei Navalny,’ Amnesty International, 3 September 2020
