The Foreign Ministry expresses consternation at the news of Aleksey Navalny’s long prison sentence; a sentence originating from a trial itself defined as “arbitrary and manifestly unreasonable” by the European Court of Human Rights.
The detention of Mr. Navalny, after he was poisoned with a chemical agent last August, confirms the trend of suppression of fundamental rights under way in the Russian Federation.
Italy remains a consistent supporter of dialogue and cooperation between the European Union and Russia, but expresses strong concern about these developments, which are in contrast to the basic principles of democracy and the rule of law.
