Michelle Bachelet, February 24, 2020 in Geneva.
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Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP
After the "very serious crime" committed against the opponent Alexeï Navalny, who came out of a coma after being poisoned in Russia, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, demanded, on Tuesday, a "thorough, transparent, independent and impartial" investigation by the Russian authorities.
Michelle Bachelet, quoted in a press release, ruled that "denying the need for a thorough, independent, impartial and transparent investigation into this assassination attempt does not constitute adequate responses".
"This raises many questions"
The High Commissioner noted that nerve agents and radioactive isotopes such as Novichok - which German specialists claim were used to poison Alexei Navalny - and Polonium-210 are sophisticated substances that are extremely difficult to obtain.
“It raises a lot of questions,” she said.
“Why use substances like these?
Who uses them?
How did they get them?
"
Asked about the culprits, Michelle Bachelet's spokesperson, Rupert Colville, said “not to be in a position to make direct accusations” during a UN press briefing in Geneva.
The German government - Alexeï Navalny, 44 years old and bête noire of the Kremlin is being treated in Berlin - and the other Western countries point the finger at the Russian authorities.
Novichok is a nerve agent designed in Soviet times for military use.
For its part, the Russian authorities deny any involvement.
On Monday, Moscow denounced the "absurd" attempts to accuse Russia.
"Any attempt to associate Russia in any way with what has happened is unacceptable to us," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
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