BERLIN, September 4. /TASS/. A German lawmaker has warned against prejudice and hasty conclusions about Russia’s being behind what is claimed to be "poisoning" of Russian opposition blogger Alexei Navalny.
"We have no idea of who was the criminal," Gregor Gysi, a Bundestag member and former head of the Left party faction, said in an interview with MDR broadcaster. "Everyone claim it was the [Russian] government, but, in fact, it could have been a mentally disordered individual from special service. It well might have been an opponent of the pipeline running to Germany." In his words, an attack on the Russian blogger might have been contracted, especially bearing in mind that "when such a murder is organized, the blame is put on the government and hence entails worsening of relations."
The lawmaker said it would be better to hear Moscow’s explanations first. In his words, it would be illogical of the Russian government to organize Navalny’s poisoning as it is obvious that such an incident will inevitably aggravate relations with West that cannot be called as good. "That is why I don’t believe in that (Moscow’s involvement - TASS)," he stressed.
Navalny felt sick on August 20 while flying from Tomsk to Moscow and the plane made an emergency landing in Omsk. The man was taken to hospital in a state of coma and was connected to a ling ventilator. He was airlifted to the Berlin-based Charite clinic in the morning on August 22. Its doctors said that indicators of poisoning had been found in his body. According to the doctors, the symptoms of poisoning have gradually abated.
On Wednesday, the German government said that German military toxicologists had found that Navalny had been exposed to a nerve agent of the Novichok family. Berlin demanded Moscow clarify the circumstances of the incident. The Russian side, in turn, said it is interested in a thorough investigation of the incident. However, according to the Russian foreign ministry, the German side has provided no evidence to ground its theory of the incident.