OSCE PA human rights leaders decry detention of Alexey Navalny

COPENHAGEN, 18 January 2021 – The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s human rights leaders today decried the detention of Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny. In response to his arrest Sunday at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport, the officers of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s General Committee on Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs, Chair Kyriakos Hadjiyianni (MP, Cyprus), Vice-Chair Michael Georg Link (MP, Germany), and Rapporteur Kari Henriksen (MP, Norway) issued the following joint statement:

“After surviving a recent assassination attempt and numerous previous politically motivated arrests by the authorities, sadly, Alexey Navalny’s troubles do not appear to be over, as he is now in custody again and facing up to 13 years in prison. His detention by Russian authorities as he was returning home is unacceptable. Political opponents of any government in the OSCE area must have the right to express their opinions. We urge the authorities to honour their OSCE commitments and obligations under the European Convention of Human Rights and to end politically motivated prosecution. Mr. Navalny's political program should be put to scrutiny by the voters, not by prosecutors.”