On second anniversary of Navalny poisoning, Scholz slams Russia’s clampdown on speech
Olaf Scholz has praised Alexey Navalny on the second anniversary of the jailed Russian opposition politician’s attempted poisoning, Qazet.az reports.
The German chancellor also criticised Russia’s clampdown on freedom of speech, Reuters reported.
“The war that Russia started against Ukraine is a war that also has consequences for Russia,” Scholz said in a video message on Saturday.
“Freedom and democracy were already endangered before. But now, freedom of expression is much more endangered and many fear to say their own opinion.”
He said it was important to remember Navalny because he was fighting for his belief that “one lives in a democracy and state governed by the rule of law”.
Navalny is serving an 11.5-year sentence after being found guilty of parole violations, fraud and contempt of court charges. He says all the charges were fabricated as a pretext to jail him and thwart his political ambitions.