CE Chief wants dialogue with Russia

Secretary General of the Council of Europe Thorbjorn Jagland wants a dialogue with Russia and does not want the country to be booted from the CE, RIA Novosti reports.

PACE discussed a report on monitoring of Russia’s obligations. MPs passed a resolution extending monitoring of Moscow, because Russia had not passed a legal ban on death penalty, normalized human rights protection in the North Caucasus or withdrawn from Moldova. PACE reminded that Russia needs to scrap recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states.

The resolution passed at the PACE meeting demands freedom to Pussy Riot. Jagland believes that the church should not become an arena for political actions. He says that sentencing Pussy Riot to 2 years of prison after they spent 6 months at a detention center is unjust.