MOSCOW, October 26 (Itar-Tass) — Moscow finds the U.S. Administration’s concern over the case of oppositionist Leonid Razvozzhayev to be totally out of place, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in an official commentary Thursday.
“Half-baked expressions of concern a puzzling as a minimum,” the ministry said. “We could only make a recommendation to refrain from relying on the rumors proliferated by some mass media and to take account of the official statements made by Russia’s investigative agencies and the Office of the Ombudsman for Human Rights.”
“The situation deals with a criminal case involving the charges with serious offenses,” the Foreign Ministry said. “Razvozzhayev has the full scope of rights under law, including an opportunity to select a lawyer independently.”
“A final decision on his guilt or innocence will be taken by the court,” the commentary said.
“Moscow finds the U.S. recommendations ‘to investigate the situation carefully’ to be out of place,” it said.
“On our part, we would like to recommend to our U.S. counterparts to pay more attention to the well-known facts of torture in the specialize jails of the CIA and the indefinite imprisonment of convicts in Guantanamo without proper investigation or trial – a fact that clearly infringes on international norms,” the ministry said.