The appeal
The appeal was originally submitted to the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office last month by a group of State Duma deputies several days after the attack on Crocus City Hall outside Moscow, which they described as yet another “manifestation of the inhumanity, hatred and cruelty” of Russia’s “external enemies.”
The authors of the document suggested that only Western politicians could have had an interest in such an attack, and insisted that the “international terrorism of the collective West must be stopped.”
To this end, the lawmakers demanded an investigation into the possible involvement of foreign intelligence services and individuals in organizing and financing acts of terrorism in Russia.
Basis for appeal
The deputies cited a UN Security Council resolution, as well as several international anti-terrorism conventions, which have been ratified by the US, France, Germany and Cyprus, as the basis for their demands.
They pointed out that under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, all states are required to prevent and suppress the financing of terrorist acts, and to freeze assets and funds of any persons guilty of terrorism.
According to the 1977 European Convention on the Suppression of Terrorism, which has also been ratified by Ukraine, any persons who have committed an act of terror are also extraditable to a requesting state, the lawmakers noted.
List of crimes
The Russian lawmakers noted that the scale and consequences of recent terrorist attacks “demonstrate a certain involvement of representatives of specific foreign intelligence services in the process of their implementation.”
The most “notorious terrorist act of recent decades,” according to the deputies, is the 2022 destruction of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines, which were built to deliver Russian natural gas to Germany.
In their appeal, the lawmakers listed a number of statements by top US officials, including President Joe Biden and former deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland, as well as other findings related to the incident, to suggest that Washington played a direct role in organizing and carrying out the sabotage.
The members of parliament went on to accuse the Ukrainian intelligence services, which have been deeply involved with the CIA for the past decade, of carrying out a number of terrorist attacks against Russia.
The deputies also pointed to the bombings of Russia’s Crimean Bridge, particularly the October 8, 2022 attack which saw a truck filled with explosives destroy several hundred meters of the roadbed, killing five civilians.
Other examples of Kiev’s continued terrorist activities, according to the deputies, are the numerous attacks on Russia’s border region of Belgorod, which have resulted in the deaths of dozens of civilians, including children as young as one.
The members of parliament surmised that the sheer number of terrorist acts being carried out “presupposes the availability of some funding, including in cash, to avoid possible leaks of information,” and suggested that one of the key “private sponsors” of Kiev’s terrorist activities has been Nikolay Zlochevsky – the owner of gas company Burisma, which has direct ties to the Biden family.
The appeal concludes by demanding that foreign states assist Russia in its investigations into the organizing and financing of terrorism, and take steps to “identify, locate, block or arrest any funds used or allocated for the purpose of committing terrorist offenses” and bring all individuals and legal entities involved in such crimes to justice.
The deputies also called on the addressees to inform the public about the findings of their investigations, including all the facts, persons involved, and the decisions taken to hold them accountable.
No comments:
Post a Comment