UN rights office calls for 'credible' Russian investigation into Navalny death

UN rights office calls for 'credible' Russian investigation into Navalny death

The U.N. human rights office urged the Russian authorities on Friday to ensure that a credible investigation is carried out into the death of prominent opposition figure Alexei Navalny in a penal colony.

Navalny collapsed and died on Friday after a walk at the "Polar Wolf" Arctic penal colony where he was serving a three-decade jail term, the Russian prison service said.

"If someone dies in the custody of the state, the presumption is that the state is responsible – a responsibility that can only be rebutted through an impartial, thorough and transparent investigation carried out by an independent body," U.N. Human Rights Office spokesperson Liz Throssell said.

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"We urge the Russian authorities to ensure such a credible investigation is carried out."

Russia's Investigative Committee said it had launched a procedural investigation into the death.

"We call on the Russian authorities to end the persecution of politicians, human rights defenders and journalists, among others," Throssell said.

"All those who are held or have been sentenced to various prison terms in relation to the legitimate exercise of their rights, including the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and expression, should be immediately released and all charges against them."