Chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs Leonid Slutsky:
“The resolution on the alleged violation of human rights in Russia, submitted to the US Congress, is another manifestation of outright Russophobia. The appeals of the American parliamentarians are not at all addressed: there are no political prisoners in Russia, there are political prisoners in the USA. These are Viktor Bout, Konstantin Yaroshenko, Roman Seleznev and many other citizens of the Russian Federation who were unlawfully seized in the territory of the third fear and placed in American prisons. Moreover, all requests of the Russian side to soften their conditions remain ignored even during a global pandemic. What rights are we talking about here?
Russia has respected and is observing all basic human rights, pursuing a humane and balanced policy. Accusations of the contrary are biased, at least. And the demands for the release of those convicted and serving a sentence by court decision are direct interference in Russian justice, in the affairs of a sovereign state as a whole. We will not allow and will not tolerate any dictatorship from without. ”
