The European Parliament on Thursday at its plenary session in Strasbourg adopted a resolution “On the use of justice for political purposes in Russia.” “This is a resolution with which we cannot agree,” Russian Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov said in response. At the same time, he emphasized that “it is not known exactly what information, what analysis the European deputies were based on, but we can say with confidence that these sources are implausible and the analysis does not correspond to reality,” RIA Novosti reports .

The European Parliament resolution expressed concern that “the human rights situation in Russia has deteriorated sharply in recent months” as a result of the adoption of laws that “contain ambiguous provisions and could be used to further restrict the activities of the opposition and civil society, and restrictions on freedom of speech and assembly.”

The resolution reminds EU Foreign Policy Commissioner Catherine Ashton of the need to provide ongoing support to civil society activists and representatives of the “new grassroots social movements” in Russia, and to maintain unrelenting pressure on the Russian authorities to comply with OSCE standards on human rights, democracy, the rule of law and independence of the judiciary.

The resolution welcomes the decision of the Supreme Court of Russia to review the cases of Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev. MEPs are calling for a review of these cases. And also to bring to justice the murderers of journalist Anna Politkovskaya and human rights activist Natalya Estemirova, and to conduct a “credible” investigation into the circumstances of the death of Sergei Magnitsky.

The resolution lists cases that, in the opinion of the European Parliament, confirm the use of justice for political purposes. This, among other things, is a verdict on the Pussy Riot group. MEPs are “deeply disappointed with the verdict and the disproportionately harsh sentence” and expect that it “will be reviewed and changed in accordance with Russia’s international obligations.”

MEPs are also alarmed by the conviction of opposition leader Taisiya Osipova on the basis of “dubious and possibly fabricated evidence.” We are concerned about the detention and criminal prosecution of oppositionists detained for participating in the riots on Bolotnaya Square on May 6 in Moscow, and are protesting about the criminal cases filed against Alexei Navalny, Boris Nemtsov, and Sergei Udaltsov.

And the beginning of the procedure in the State Duma to deprive Gennady Gudkov of his deputy mandate is called by the European Parliament “intimidation of an opposition party that conducts legitimate political activities and supported the demands of participants in the protest movement.”

In Strasbourg, deputies expressed concern about the broad interpretation of the concepts of “extremist activity” and “extremist organization” and condemned laws recently adopted in some regions of Russia that criminalize public information about gender identity and sexual orientation. They called on Russia to “refrain from the arbitrary use of laws to suppress members of the opposition” and to “amend new laws on NGOs to protect citizen associations that receive financial support from reputable foreign foundations from political persecution.” Moscow was reminded that Russia, having become a full member of the Council of Europe and the OSCE, assumed certain obligations. And they warned the Kremlin that “Russia’s meaningful, constructive relationship with the EU depends on its efforts to strengthen democracy, the rule of law and respect for fundamental human rights.”

The European Parliament condemned Russia for using justice for political purposes