UK sees human rights as key issue in dialogue with Russia, minister tells NGOs

Interfax

Britain is planning to give priority attention to the issue of human rights protection in the dialogue with Russia, British Foreign Secretary [William Hague] promised the representatives of Russian non-governmental organizations at a meeting in Moscow on Wednesday [13 October].

“The investigation of the death of (Hermitage Capital Fund lawyer) Sergeyb Magnitskiy and the case of (former head of the Yukos oil company) Mikhail Khodorkovskiy were mentioned at the meeting,” the leader of the For Human Rights movement, Lev Ponomarev, who was among the participants in the meeting, told Interfax.

“It was mostly us who talked at the meeting, and the minister listened,” he said.

“But at the end of the meeting the minister said that the issue of human rights was fundamental in relations between the states [Russia and the UK]. He said that the British authorities did not view this as interference in the internal affairs of another state. The issue of human rights will be one of the main [issues to be discussed at the talks in Russia], he said,” Ponomarev quoted Hague as saying.

Ponomarev spoke at the meeting about the pressure on opposition and human rights activists in Russia and the situation in Russian prisons.

“Civil [society] activists, human rights defenders and representatives of the opposition are experiencing huge pressure. This is one of the problems in modern Russia,” he said. займы онлайн на карту срочно buy over the counter medicines https://zp-pdl.com www.zp-pdl.com unshaven girl