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The decision, which took place on Wednesday, February 24, has received powerful backlash from the international human rights organization, The Moscow Times reports. Critics said Amnesty International had succumbed to a “selective campaign” to discredit Navalna, which was organized by people associated with Kremlin-backed media companies.
The organization based its decision on Navaln’s previous nationalist and anti-immigrant statements, but said it would continue to demand his release.
During an interview with Zoom, three Amnesty International officials discussed the consequences of the decision with one of Navaln’s most important comrades, Leonid Volkov, who pretended to be nicknamed Vovan and Lexus.
“We understand the significant damage that has been done,” Denis Krivosheev, Amnesty International’s Vice President for Euro-Central Asia, said during a 15-minute Zoom interview posted Thursday by Wovan and Lexus on YouTube.
A spokeswoman for Amnesty International’s Russian division, The Moscow Times, said the video of the call, which appeared on YouTube, was authentic, but declined to comment further.
Julie Verhaar, Acting Secretary General of Amnesty International, and Marie Struthers, head of the organization’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia division, also participated in the meeting.
“We discussed the consequences of the decision and we awaited this call because we did not want it to happen,” Struthers said during the conversation, taking into account the hostile reaction.
“We may have done more harm than good this time,” he added.
Shortly after the call, Verhaar thanked Volkov on Twitter for the interview, but the message was later deleted.
“Hmmm, Amnesty International’s Secretary General just thanked me for a constructive and open conversation. But I don’t know her and I haven’t spoken. In fact, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if he spoke to “Prankster Vovan”. I wouldn’t be surprised if they make decisions based on such conversations, ”L. Volkov wrote the response on Twitter.
The international human rights organization initially recognized Mr. Navalnas as a prisoner of conscience when he was arrested on January 17. he returned from Germany, where he spent more than a month recovering from an attempt to poison his nerves with a paralyzing substance. The attack blames the Kremlin for the attack.
Using the nicknames Vovan and Lexus, Vladimir Kuznetsov and Alexei Stoliarov became famous in Russia for their appeals to Kremlin opponents and world leaders.
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