Milan, 16 February (LaPresse) – ‘On the second anniversary of Alexei Navalny's death in a Russian penal colony, we once again express our deepest condolences to his family’ and ‘emphasise that the Russian authorities remain solely responsible’ . This is according to a joint statement released by 15 countries: Australia, Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Sweden and the United Kingdom. ‘The 3 February ruling of the European Court of Human Rights further emphasised that Russia is responsible for the inhuman and degrading treatment of Navalny during his detention and for the lack of an adequate response to his requests,’ the statement added, noting that ‘the human rights situation in Russia has rapidly deteriorated before and after this tragic event, as evidenced by the reports of the UN Special Rapporteur.’