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Madam President, Honourable Members [of the European Parliament], 

The Russian authoritarian government is using a range of tactics to detain and deter the work of democracy activists, critical voices, human rights defenders and so on. Political trials, as well as restrictive legislation, are one of the primary tools of the Russian authorities in dealing with political opposition figures and critical voices in today’s Russia. 

The Russian opposition politician, Alexei Navalny, is one out of hundreds of political prisoners in Russia, but his situation is unique and extremely concerning.  

From his prison cell, Mr. Navalny courageously continues to speak out against the Russian authorities’ suppression of freedom of expression and independent media. Since last February, Russia’s unjustified, unprovoked and illegal war of aggression against Ukraine has only amplified Russia’s internal repression and systematic crackdown on the Kremlin's critics and the civil society as a whole. 

Let me once again reiterate the European Union’s strongest possible condemnation of the poisoning of Mr. Navalny. We have imposed sanctions on those involved in this assassination attempt. We have also imposed sanctions on those involved in his arbitrary arrest, in his prosecution and his sentencing. We will, together with our partners, continue to call on Russia for Mr. Navalny’s immediate and unconditional release, as obviously his imprisonment is purely politically motivated.  

Russia’s full-scale war of aggression against Ukraine accelerated repression on the domestic scene, both in terms of more restrictive legislation and increased number of human rights violations. It took President Putin just eight days, following the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, to sign a law introducing stiff prison sentences - up to 15 years - for “public dissemination of false information about Russian Armed Forces.”  

Russian authorities have doubled down their efforts in cracking down on journalists, human rights defenders, activists, and even random “anti-war” minded people, with the aim to silence any criticism of the aggression against Ukraine or telling the truth about the atrocities that the Russian army is committing there. 

The European Union stands by and continues to support the Russian civil society, independent media, human rights defenders, political prisoners and all Russian citizens who, despite the deepening crackdown, continue to defend the human rights in Russia and oppose authoritarianism and war – and they do so at their great personal risks.  

Thank you. 

Link to the video (starting from 23:25): https://audiovisual.ec.europa.eu/en/video/I-236756