MOSCOW, June 26 (RIA Novosti) - The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) is acting as a repressive organization rather than a democratic one, Speaker of the Russian State Duma Sergei Naryshkin said Thursday.
“Our delegation was deprived of the right to vote at PACE as if it is not a democratic [organization] but another one, an organization that represses those who disagree with it,” the speaker said.
A number of Russian lawmakers have had “personal sanctions” imposed upon them, which is against the principles of a parliamentary democracy, Naryshkin added.
These are unprecedented attempts to limit the freedom of parliamentary dialogue, the speaker added.
In April, PACE stripped the Russian delegation of some of its voting rights over its alleged involvement in the situation in Crimea. On June 3, Moscow officially informed PACE about its decision to halt bilateral cooperation and skip the summer session.
