You're reading: Russian Foreign Ministry slams US comments on Razvozzhayev

MOSCOW - Russia's Foreign Ministry has slammed statements by U.S. officials expressing concern over the plight of Russian opposition activist Leonid Razvozzhayev.

“We are surprised, to say the least, at these hasty expressions of
‘anxiety.’ “We can just advise avoiding being guided by idle inventions
and rumors that are multiplied by the media, but using official
statements by Russian criminal investigation authorities and the
commissioner for human rights in the Russian Federation,” the ministry
told Interfax on Thursday.

Earlier in the day, the press attaché of the U.S. Embassy in Moscow,
Joseph Kruzich, told Interfax that the United States had officially
expressed concern to the Russian Foreign Ministry’s commissioner for
human rights, democracy and rule of law, Konstantin Dolgov, over the
issue and asked for a careful examination.

Kruzich said that in the past few days there had been credible
reports about Razvozzhayev’s situation and statements from the UN High
Commissioner for Refugees and human rights activists, who had visited
Razvozzhayev in jail.

The Russian Foreign Ministry pointed out that “serious accusations”
have been leveled against Razvozzhayev, who “has been provided with all
the rights stipulated by law, including an opportunity to choose his own
lawyer.”

“It is a court of law that will issue the definitive decision on whether he is guilty or not,” the ministry said.

“For this reason, we consider the American advice to ‘examine the
issue carefully’ to be inappropriate. For our part, we would recommend
that our counterparts pay attention to well-known instances of torture
in special CIA jails and to the detention of prisoners at Guantanamo for
an indefinite time without trial or investigation, something that
tramples upon all standards of international law,” it said.