Vladimír Remek, on behalf of the GUE/NGL Group. – (CS) Mr President, I do not in any way see my speech as a defence of any decisions taken by Russian state or judicial bodies.
I would like to mention the following only as an example for comparison and consideration: in the Czech Republic, a Member State of the European Union, an ordinary citizen – a bus driver – was sent to prison for painting antennae on the pre-election portraits of certain politicians as a protest. It is a remarkable fact that the citizen was sentenced by a judge who is the wife of one these ‘prettified’ politicians. I would like to add that the creator of the antennae has reimbursed the alleged material damages of EUR 600.
I repeat, this happened in a Member State of the Union. Similar examples might be found throughout Europe. So when we want to assess fairness in relation to politics elsewhere, we should first take a look at our own back yard.