The Lithuanian Foreign Ministry on Monday summoned Russia’s chargé d’affaires ad interim to express its protest over the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
The ministry said in a statement that it voiced “strong protest” over the circumstances surrounding the opposition figure’s death in an Arctic prison on February 16 and “emphasised that the full responsibility for Navalny’s death lies with Vladimir Putin and his regime”.
According to the ministry, it also demanded a comprehensive and independent international investigation into the circumstances of Navalny’s death and called for his body to be handed over to his family immediately.
The ministry also demanded the immediate release of all people who were detained in Russia while paying tribute to the deceased Kremlin critic.
It also demanded the release of Yuri Dmitriev, Vladimir Kara-Murza, Ilya Yashin, Alexei Gorinov, Lilia Chanysheva, Ksenia Fadeeva, Aleksandra Skochilenko, Ivan Safronov, and other political prisoners in Russia.
A strong protest was also voiced to the Russian diplomat over Moscow’s decision to organise presidential elections in Ukraine’s temporarily occupied and illegally annexed territories on March 15-17.
Navalny, Russia’s most prominent opposition leader and Putin’s fiercest foe, died in prison on Friday.
The Russian Federal Penitentiary Service announced that Navalny, who was serving a 19-year prison sentence on “extremism” charges, felt unwell and lost consciousness after a walk.
The international community blames Moscow for his death.
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