This was stated by the head of the Chechen movement “United Force” and the authorised representative of seven indigenous nations of the Russian Federation, Dzhambulat Suleymanov, in a comment to an Ukrinform correspondent in Strasbourg.
“We were fundamentally against participating in a platform that gives a platform to this opposition. But our Ukrainian friends asked us to present an alternative opinion and express our position. So we applied, but, of course, we were not included in this list,” Suleymanov said.
According to him, the final list of participants was agreed upon by PACE President Theodoros Roussopoulos.
“The list only includes Russians who are in purely imperial positions – and we know this well – Kara-Murza, Khodorkovsky and others. They do not accept an alternative vision of the future of Russia. The enslaved nations are also represented there, but in reality only formally. They were allocated 5 seats, but these are all loyal people. There was one representative of Buryatia, who defends its independence, but she was also removed,” Suleymanov said.
The head of the Chechen movement announced that his work will be aimed at implementing another platform, specified in the October resolution, which provides for a separate platform for nations colonised by the Russian Federation.
“We have already spoken with Eric Cross (the main speaker on this topic in PACE – ed.). And we are following our plan – to achieve a separate presence and work with the topic of the rights of enslaved nations to self-determination separately from the so-called Russian opposition,” Suleymanov added.
