Le Parlement européen se penche sur la mort d’activistes russes [en]

The president of the European Parliament Jerzy Buzek called on 23 July for Russian authorities to bring the killers of human rights activist Andrei Kulagin to justice. 

Kulagin disappeared two months ago and officials were quoted by Russian media on Wednesday as saying his body had been found in a quarry on 10 July. He led the local branch of Spravedlivost (Justice), a rights organisation in the Karelia, around 1,000 km (620 miles) north of Moscow. 

Buzek said those responsible for the murder must be brought to justice. 

"I would like to [...] insist upon an impartial and credible investigation conducted by the Russian authorities," Buzek said in a statement. 

"The international community cannot allow this case to add to the long list of unsolved murders of human rights activists in Russia," Buzek added. 

Kulagin was known for his work for better treatment for inmates in Russian prisons. 

Russia is already investigating last week's killing of Chechen human rights activist Natalia Estemirova, which triggered worldwide outrage. Estemirova was abducted on 15 July from her home in Grozny, Chechnya, and her bullet-riddled body was found later that day in a woodland in Ingushetia. 

The EU assembly held a minute's silence for Estemirova at the start the plenary session in Strasbourg on 16 July. 

In a statement pronounced on that occasion Buzek said: "With great sadness I have learned of the tragic death of Natalia Estemirova, […] a human rights activist and a leading researcher with Memorial on Chechnya. In 2005 she was awarded the Robert Schuman Medal by the EPP Group in the European Parliament […] We strongly call on the authorities of the Russian Federation to start a fully fledged inquiry into her death and do their utmost to bring those responsible for this tragic death to face justice."

At his first conference following his election as president of the Parliament (EurActiv 14/07/09), Buzek was asked by a journalist to describe relations with Russia. 

Buzek was adamant: "Relations between EU and Russia are very important, we are dealing with the same continent and its neighbourhood. The EU needs Russia and Russia needs the EU." 

But he also emphasised differences of outlook: "Russian democracy - they claim their system is democratic - differs from ours. Also the rules of the economy are different than in the EU." 

Finally he warned that "we must be aware of our differences, especially on human and civil rights. We cannot forget about this". 

(EurActiv with Reuters.)