(Strasbourg) The Council of Europe’s Secretary General Marija Pejčinović Burić has met Yulia Navalnaya at the Palais de l’Europe today. After expressing “condolences and deep sadness for the loss” of her husband, a “prominent Russian opposition leader, the Secretary General underlined how Mr Navalnyy’s death cannot be separated from the grave human rights violations that he faced”. This included a poisoning attempt and unjust imprisonment in conditions that amounted to degrading and inhuman treatment, “for which the Russian authorities are fully responsible”. Maria Pejčinović Burić recalled that the Russian Federation – even though it was expelled from the Council of Europe after its aggression against Ukraine – remains under an unconditional international legal obligation to implement the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights, including those rendered in respect of Mr Navalnyy. Pejčinović Burić also “deplored the unprecedented crackdown against civil society and human rights defenders in the Russian Federation”. In this context, she praised “Mr Navalnyy’s bravery to strive for a free and democratic Russia, as well as Yulia Navalnaya’s determination to continue her husband’s legacy”.