President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe Marc Cools, has issued the following statement in response to the trial of the former Moscow city councillor Alexei Gorinov on charges of "justifying terrorism" in conversation with his fellow prisoners:
"I condemn the continued persecution of local elected representatives and reaffirm the call of the Congress, in its 494th Resolution (October 2023) for the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners of conscience in Russia and in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, who are detained because of their political views.
"We stand in solidarity with Alexei Gorinov and all those critics of the war who continue to be illegally detained or persecuted - municipal councillors, local and regional elected representatives, human rights defenders, journalists, youth activists and political opponents.
We cannot accept that people in Russia are put on trial for speaking against the war. It is vital that we keep up the pressure on the Russian authorities to ensure that all political prisoners are released immediately and that the persecution does not continue."
