Group Of US Senators Introduces Draft Law On Russia Sanctions Over Navalny Case - Rubio

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 25th September, 2020) A bipartisan group of US senators has introduced draft legislation to target Russia with sanctions over the alleged poisoning of opposition figure Alexey Navalny, the office of Sen. Marco Rubio said.

"U.S. Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Chris Coons (D-DE) were joined by Senators Ben Cardin (D-MD), Mitt Romney (R-UT), and Chris Van-Hollen (D-MD) in introducing the bipartisan Holding Russia Accountable for Malign Activities Act of 2020. This bill would impose targeted sanctions on Russian officials complicit in brazen violations of international law, including the recent poisoning of opposition leader and anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny," Rubio's office said in a statement on late Thursday.

If adopted, the act will require a report on the personal wealth of those involved in corruption schemes in the Russian establishment, as well as task the US administration with determining whether Moscow had violated US laws on banning the use of chemical and biological weapons.

"I'm proud to join Senator Coons in introducing this bipartisan bill to impose a cost on [Russian President Vladimir] Putin and his cronies involved in the attempts to murder opposition figures or dissidents as well as those helping the regime cover-up these attacks.

This legislation will also require the Administration to make public Putin's wealth and level of corruption," Rubio said.

Navalny fell ill during a domestic flight in Russia on August 20. He was initially treated in the Siberian city of Omsk, where the plane had to urgently land. Two days later, once the doctors established he was fit for cross-border aerial transport, the 44-year-old politician was flown to the Berlin-based Charite clinic for further treatment.

The German government said doctors claimed they had proof Navalny was poisoned with a nerve agent from the Novichok group of toxins. According to Berlin, the conclusions of its doctors were confirmed by laboratories in France and Sweden.

Conversely, tests conducted by doctors in Russia did not show traces of poison in Navalny's system, prompting Moscow to demand that Germany must provide evidence to back up its claims. However, none has been received as of yet.