Last week, Gerhard Schroeder said that he doubts Moscow’s role in Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny’s alleged poisoning, claims that the ex-German Chancellor rejected as “speculation”.
Gerhard Schroeder has announced plans to sue the newspaper Bild for defamation pertaining to Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny’s claims about the former German Chancellor.
Schroeder added that he “therefore feels compelled to take legal action against the publisher, who has seriously violated” his “right of publicity”.
The remarks came as the German newspaper earlier published an interview with Navalny, who accused Schroeder of “receiving shadow payments” from Russian authorities.
Last week, Schroeder pointed out that he questions Russia’s role in Navalny’s alleged poisoning, claims that the ex-German Chancellor rejected as “speculation”.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, right, and former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, left, pose during a photo call prior to the book presentation of Schroeder’s biography in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2015
Schroeder served as German chancellor between 1998 and 2005. The 76-year-old is currently chairman of the Board of Directors of Russia’s Rosneft and head of the Shareholders Committee of Nord Stream AG. The Nord Stream 2 pipeline project is a $10.5 billion joint venture between Russia’s Gazprom, Germany’s Uniper and Wintershall, Austria’s OMV, France’s Engie, and UK/Dutch energy conglomerate Royal Dutch Shell.
Schroeder’s lawsuit against Navalny comes after Berlin announced in mid-September the possibility of freezing, sanctioning, or otherwise acting against the Nord Stream 2 project amid pressure from Germany’s US and European allies to “punish” Moscow for the alleged poisoning of the Russian opposition figure.
Navalny Case
This followed the German government claiming earlier last month that doctors at Berlin’s Charite hospital had found traces of a military-grade nerve agent from the Novichok group in Navalny’s system.
Moscow stressed that Berlin lacks evidence to back up its allegations and noted that Russian doctors had found no toxic substances in the opposition figure’s body.
On 20 August, Navalny fell ill during a domestic flight in Russia. He was initially treated in the Siberian city of Omsk, where the plane made an emergency landing, but was then flown to Berlin once the doctors decided that he was fit for cross-border aerial transportation.
According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, Moscow has taken a “transparent position” on the Navalny case from the very beginning, allowing for him to be transferred to Germany for treatment at the request of his relatives, with the doctors who saved his life in Omsk openly passing on all the data they collected about Navalny’s condition and expressing willingness to continue cooperating.
Sourse: sputniknews.com
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