Johnson calls for action over ‘shocking’ Navalny poisoning
BORIS JOHNSON has called for an investigation into the “shocking” poisoning of Alexei Navalny and expressed support for the Russian opposition leader as he remains in a coma in a German hospital.
Mr Johnson joins a growing chorus of world leaders who have condemned the incident as the Kremlin said it sees no need for a criminal probe.
The poisoning of Mr Navalny “shocked the world,” the Prime Minister said yesterday. “The UK stands in solidarity with him and his family. We need a full, transparent investigation into what happened. The perpetrators must be held accountable and the UK will join international efforts to ensure justice is done.”
Mr Navalny, Russia’s most outspoken critic of President Vladimir Putin, fell ill on a flight to Moscow from Siberia last week.
He was treated by Russian doctors before being transferred to the Charite Hospital in Berlin, where medics said he had been poisoned.
The US threatened sanctions if Moscow is found to have been behind any poisoning.
The Kremlin rejected accusations that Mr Putin could have ordered an attack on his opponent as “empty noise”, and said German doctors had rushed their diagnosis.
Mr Johnson’s statement came as a powerful Kremlin-linked businessman vowed to ruin Mr Navalny over a libel case. Catering magnate Yevgeny Prigozhin, sometimes referred to as “Putin’s Chef”, last year sued Mr Navalny over a report that alleged his company was supplying school lunches that were “worse than dog food”.
Mr Prigozhin said he would personally pursue Mr Navalny and another activist for the 88 million roubles (£900,000) awarded in damages, after the opposition leader closed his anticorruption foundation to avoid paying part of the costs.
If Mr Navalny survives, he will face “the full severity of the Russian law”, Mr Prigozhin said.
Mr Prigozhin is under US sanctions over his alleged ties to a Kremlinbacked “troll factory” accused of interfering in the 2016 presidential election.