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Dissident confronts Putin's justice minister
Dissident confronts Putin's justice minister
in UN review of Russian rights
record
GENEVA, September 21, 2018
— Russian justice minister Alexander Konovalov
was confronted in a UN debate today by one
of his country's most prominent dissidents.
Pro-democracy
activist, author and film-maker Vladimir Kara-Murza, who was
twice poisoned and nearly killed in Moscow, refuted the
Kremlin's assertions as he took the floor at the invitation
of the Swiss-based human rights group UN Watch.
Konovalov
presented his country's record before a quadrennial
mandatory review of the 47-nation UN Human Rights Council,
saying that the Putin government "was committed to protect
civil society actors."
However, Kara-Murza told the UN
meeting, in Russia unwelcome NGOs are designated as
“foreign agents,” the right to free elections "has
become a sham," and peaceful demonstrators "are detained and
beaten up — not only with police batons, but also with
Cossack whips." Russia's law enforcement system, he said,
"has turned into an instrument of repression."
Click here for full remarks by Russia & Vladimir Kara-Murza
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