Disinfo: Germany has a serious problem with freedom of speech

This is a Kremlin narrative which disputes the capacity of the European Union (EU) to impose sanctions against Russia, insisting that the United Nations Security Council is the only relevant international actor to do so. However, the EU has the competence to do so independently of the UN. The EU applies sanctions not only to implement UN Security Council Resolutions but also to further the objectives of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), namely a) promoting international peace and security, b) preventing conflicts, c) supporting democracy, the rule of law and human rights and d) defending the principles of international law, as the EU did in the case of the illegal annexation of Crimea. The "Navalny affair" falls in the context of applying restrictive measures (sanctions) to support democracy, rule of law and human rights. It is by now well documented that prominent Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny fell ill during a flight from Siberia to Moscow on the 20th of August. Initially hospitalised in Omsk, at the request of his family he was transferred to Charité hospital in Berlin. Clinical findings at the Charité hospital indicated that Navalny was poisoned with a substance from the group of cholinesterase inhibitors. Subsequent toxicological tests provided unequivocal evidence of a chemical nerve agent of the Novichok group in the blood samples of Alexei Navalny. France and Sweden confirmed that the cause of his illness was Novichok, a Russian nerve agent. Samples taken from Navalny had also been sent for testing to the Organisation for the Prevention of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in The Hague.

Pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about Crimea and its illegal annexation. Crimea was annexed by Russia following an illegitimate referendum on March 16 2014, following the deployment of “little green men” across the peninsula beginning in February 2014. Read more about Crimea's annexation here. The status of 16 Crimean-Tatar language schools has been altered since the annexation. Seven preserved instruction in Crimean-Tatar, while five have been transformed to instil instruction in Russian. Four have been designated schools that offer a “general education.” Practically all Ukrainian TV-channels have been switched off and replaced by Russian state-controlled broadcasting. The EU has also reaffirmed its deep concern at the deterioration of the human rights situation in the Crimean peninsula, including the denial of freedom of expression, freedom of peaceful assembly, freedom of religion and belief, and the persecution of persons belonging to minorities, in particular the Crimean Tatars. Human rights defenders recorded in just one year, hundreds of illegal searches, detentions and arrests and dozens of cases for political reasons were recorded in Crimea. 70% of all Crimean prisoners for political reasons are Crimean Tatars. According to Freedom House, Russia used coercion to increase the participation of Crimeans in Russian elections; the Crimean Tatars are being repressed and the Mejlis - an organisation representing the Crimean Tatars - was banned; the Russian FSB use intimidation and harassment to eliminate opposition to Russian occupation; a forced Russification is ongoing (including making anything connected to Ukraine a taboo), and rights to freedom of association are severely restricted. The UN continues to document violations of international human rights and humanitarian law perpetrated by the Russian Federation, as the occupying Power, including deportations of protected persons, forced conscription and restrictions on freedom of expression. Read similar cases claiming that Crimean Tatars in Simferopol enjoy the freedom of speech and that leader of the Crimean Tatars Mustafa Dzhemilev is a terrorist, or that historical Crimean Russian land returned, that over 95% of Crimea voted to be part of Russia and that Crimea never belonged to Ukraine.