PR: Alexei Navalny - nothing but a show trial

Mommenting on the Navalny case, Green foreign policy spokesperson and vice-chair of the EU-Russia parliamentary cooperation committee Werner Schulz said:

"Obviously the case of Alexei Navalny is nothing but a show trial. There is a lack of rule of law and democracy in Russia. President Putin thinks he can do whatever he wants. The case of blogger Navalny is just the new top of the iceberg . There are a lot of ongoing lawsuits and investigations due to the participation in the protests against Putins inauguration one year ago. President Putin does not tolerate any kind of real independent opposition in his autocratic system.

And last but not least there is the posthumous case against Sergei Magnitsky, the first-ever posthumous trial in Russian history and in this regard the intention of Russian Interior Ministry to seek arrest warrant for Bill Browder, CEO of Hermitage Capital. Its time for the European Union to follow the example of the United States to implement a Magnitsky list."

(commentary for the newspaper KOMMERSANT)