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Russia demands more information on the poisoning of the Kremlin critic Navalny. The German judiciary complies with a request for mutual legal assistance, but the federal government does not want to hand over much of the investigation files.
In the case of poisoned Kremlin critic Alexej Navalny, Germany insists on an extensive secret for the time being. “The federal government has taken steps to obtain tests that have not yet been completed,” said government spokesman Steffen Seibert. The “confidentiality rules” must also be observed. “Russia has everything it needs to carry out an investigation,” Seibert said.
According to the federal government, the final result of the investigation was handed over to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). Since the Navalny attack involved the use of internationally banned chemical weapons, this is the right direction. According to this, Germany did not disclose the entire investigation file, which is subject to confidentiality. Russia had announced that it would contact the OPCW.
Evidence of Russian involvement is growing
Navalny had collapsed on a domestic flight in Siberia on August 20. After being transferred to the Charité in Berlin, a special Bundeswehr laboratory discovered that Navalny was “undoubtedly” poisoned by a neurotoxin from the Novitschok group, which was developed in the former Soviet Union.
As the “Spiegel” writes, the administered substance should be a further development of previously known nerve agent compositions. The poison is even “harsher”, said the president of the Federal Intelligence Service, Bruno Kahl, in a secret round. According to the report, composition is the most important indicator of who might be behind the crime for the federal government. The more complex, newer and rarer, the more likely it is that someone can only get hold of it with the help of the Russian power apparatus, he said.
German security authorities currently assumed that only a Russian secret service could have poisoned Navalny himself on the way to or at the airport. Since the Kremlin critic was closely monitored by the Russian national intelligence service FSB, no other option is seen, the magazine reported. According to security authorities, the perpetrators’ estimate was that Navalny would die while on board the aircraft. Only the pilot’s brave emergency landing in Omsk and treatment with an antidote at the local hospital would have saved his life.
Kremlin reacts angrily
Based on the results of the investigation, the German government had asked Russia to clarify the situation. There is also great international pressure on Moscow to investigate the case itself. Moscow reacted angrily to such statements. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told state agency Tass that other countries should not tell Russia “what legal measures to take, when and on what legal basis.” “We don’t like that.” The Russian government does not want to launch its own investigation until its investigators have evidence of the Navalny poisoning. Among other things, he asked the federal government to provide him with the results of the Bundeswehr laboratory.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov once again asked Berlin to cooperate in the investigation. Speaking to journalists, Lavrov told Berlin: “I hope that these absurd acts will stop and that Germany, at least in the interests of its reputation for German punctuality, will fulfill its obligations.”
Legal aid granted: Russia wants to send investigators
Meanwhile, the Berlin authorities want to comply with a Russian request for legal assistance. The Berlin Prosecutor’s Office announced on Twitter that the Senate Justice Department had tasked them with providing legal assistance. Information on the 44-year-old man’s health status should only be provided if Navalny agrees.
The Russian police now also want to request an interview with Navalny and other witnesses in Germany. The Russian investigators wanted to accompany their German colleagues in the investigation and ask “clarifying questions” of the opposition, the transport police said. According to its own information, the federal government has not yet received a corresponding request from Moscow.
Navalny’s colleague and confidant, Leonid Volkov, refused to allow Russian investigators to participate in Navalny’s interrogations in Germany. Wolkow told the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung” that such a request was “completely unacceptable”. The corresponding demands from Russia are “pure propaganda”.
