Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I pay tribute to the Deputy, who was probably the first Member of this House to raise the question of Alexei Navalny during Oral Questions in a long time. Unfortunately, Mr. Navalny's death was announced subsequently.

Ireland is deeply concerned at the ongoing shocking erosion of human rights in Russia, and the persecution of individuals for exercising their personal freedoms, including rights to freedom of opinion, expression and peaceful assembly. The domestic political situation in Russia has steadily descended into authoritarianism over in recent years and has deteriorated even further since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Power is increasingly concentrated in the hands of President Vladimir Putin. There are ongoing examples of mass arbitrary arrests and detentions, as well as harassment of peaceful anti-war activists, human rights defenders, journalists, cultural figures and ethnic minorities. Domestic opposition leaders have been arrested and prosecuted on politically motivated charges. Legislation has been introduced to essentially shut down civil society in Russia.

The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Russian Federation has described a so-called legal carousel whereby victims are put through a series of arbitrary detentions until a fabricated criminal charge is raised against the victim. Confessions are frequently obtained through the use of torture or other coercive practices. There is no independent oversight, reporting, or investigation mechanisms, which perpetuates impunity for such serious crimes.

Lawyers in Russia who fight to protect human rights defenders, journalists, opposition activists, anti-war protesters or victims of human rights violations in Russia are also targets of political pressure. This pressure includes legal harassment and prosecution, and physical violence amounting to torture and ill-treatment.

The sudden and shocking death of the opposition leader and political prisoner Alexei Navalny on 16 February is yet another indication of the ongoing deterioration and disregard for human rights and international law by Putin’s authoritarian regime. Ireland, along with our European Union partners, has been clear in our condemnation of Mr. Navalny’s death. His death reminds us of the fundamental freedoms that we all too often take for granted. He died in a penal colony in the Arctic Circle where he was serving a sentence of 19 years under politically motivated charges. This followed his earlier poisoning with a toxic nerve agent. Ireland considers that the ultimate responsibility for the death of Mr. Navalny rests with Russian leadership.

I attended the European Union Foreign Affairs Council on 19 February, where Ministers from EU member states heard from the widow of Mr. Navalny, Yulia Navalnaya, and discussed a co-ordinated EU response.

Russia is currently subject to the most comprehensive and far-reaching sanctions ever imposed by the European Union. The European Union adopted additional sanctions on the second anniversary of the Russian invasion and continues to keep its sanctions under review, including in response to the death of Mr. Navalny and the increasing erosion of human rights and civil liberties in Russia. Ireland is supportive of further EU sanctions targeted specifically at those directly responsible for Mr. Navalny’s death and options are currently being considered in discussions in Brussels. Ireland has taken a number of other actions, including summoning the Russian ambassador to Ireland to express our outrage at Mr Navalny’s death.

Ireland shares international concern at the situation of other political prisoners in Russia. These include Vladimir Kara-Murza, a British-Russian national and opposition leader, who was arrested in April 2022 after he referred to Russia as being run by a regime of murderers in a televised interview. Mr. Kara-Murza is serving a 25-year sentence in a Siberian penal colony and has been the target of two previous assassination attempts through poisoning.

Ilya Yashin, another political prisoner, is currently serving eight years for publicly criticising the Russian Federation for committing war crimes in Bucha, Ukraine. Mr. Yashin has been involved in opposition politics for many years and until his arrest was a municipal deputy in Moscow. Mr. Yashin took the courageous decision to remain in Moscow in order to be a vocal critic of Russia’s war of aggression on Ukraine.

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