Russian General Prosecutor's Office sees no reason for criminal proceedings in Navalny case

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The Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny

The Russian General Prosecutor's Office sees no evidence of a poison attack on the prominent Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny. There is therefore no basis for opening a criminal investigation, said the Moscow authority. The German authorities had agreed to cooperate with Russia in the case.

Navalny is one of the sharpest critics of Russian President Vladimir Putin. He collapsed on Thursday last week on a flight from Siberia to Moscow. After an emergency landing in Omsk, he was first treated there in a clinic and then flown to Berlin at the weekend. There doctors from the Charité spoke of indications that Navalny was poisoned.

Russia, on the other hand, has so far seen no evidence of a poison attack on Navalny. The Russian police in the Siberian Omsk said they had initiated preliminary investigations. In connection with the hospital admission of the 44-year-old in Omsk, "more than a hundred objects of possible evidential value" were seized, said the Siberian branch of the Russian Interior Ministry. In addition, the places where Navalny was on the day in question were examined.

Police did not find any suspicious substances

According to the authorities, the hotel room in which Navalny had stayed in the Siberian Omsk has since been inspected. No drugs or other suspicious substances were found. Recordings from surveillance cameras in the city were also analyzed.

Federal Foreign Minister Heiko Maas (SPD) urges Russia to clarify and wants to discuss the case with his EU counterparts. "We expect Russia to participate in the investigation. At the moment that doesn't seem to be the case," said Maas on ZDF. He wanted to discuss how to proceed with the EU foreign ministers on Thursday. "It would be the easiest for Moscow to participate in the investigation."

mfh / Reuters