NEWS EXPRESS is Nigeria’s leading online newspaper. Published by Africa’s international award-winning journalist, Mr. Isaac Umunna, NEWS EXPRESS is Nigeria’s first truly professional online daily newspaper. It is published from Lagos, Nigeria’s economic and media hub, and has a provision for occasional special print editions. Thanks to our vast network of sources and dedicated team of professional journalists and contributors spread across Nigeria and overseas, NEWS EXPRESS has become synonymous with newsbreaks and exclusive stories from around the world.
French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne said during a visit to Argentina that Russia's ambassador in Paris would be summoned, while Norway's foreign ministry issued a statement that it was calling on its top Russian diplomat for a talk about Navalny's death.
In the conversation, Norwegian views will be conveyed about Russian authorities' responsibility for the death and for facilitating a transparent investigation, Norway said, adding that the meeting had not yet taken place but would shortly.
It followed similar announcements earlier Monday by Finland, Germany, Lithuania, Spain, Sweden and the Netherlands saying they have summoned diplomats from Russian embassies. London had done the same Friday evening.
Navalny's death in a remote prison in the Arctic, where the 47-year-old was serving a 19-year sentence after surviving a 2020 poisoning that he blamed on the Kremlin, was announced Friday.
The regime of Vladimir Putin has once again shown its true nature, France's Sejourne said Monday.
Western countries have unanimously pointed blame at the Russian authorities for his death, three years into his sentence, which deprives the opposition of its most prominent figure a month ahead of presidential elections that are expected to enhance Putin's firm grip on power.
Finland's foreign ministry on X, formerly Twitter, called for Russia to release all political prisoners while confirming it had called on the ambassador Monday.
It is terrible that Alexei Navalny has paid the ultimate price for his fight for a free and democratic Russia, Hanke Bruins Slot, the Netherlands' foreign affairs minister, posted on X. We strongly urge Russia to release Navalny's body to his family and relatives.
Earlier Monday, Sweden's Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom said in a statement he had summoned Russia's ambassador, and called for the European Union to consider a new sanctions regime targeting the internal repression in Russia.
On Friday, Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said Madrid demands that the circumstances" of the death be clarified.(AFP)
A woman holds a placard that reads: Putin killed Navalny at the Trocadero near the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, February 17, 2024. © Sarah Meyssonnier, Reuters
