STRASBOURG, April 28 (RIA Novosti) - Alvaro Gil Robles, Council of Europe Human Rights Commissioner, was barred from attending the PACE Monitoring Commission's Wednesday session, which focused on the status of Russian speakers in Latvia. Mikhail Margelov, Vice Speaker of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the Federation Council, or Russia's upper house of parliament, broke the news to the Russian media after a conversation with Mr. Robles.
According to Margelov, the refusal to let Robles in was explained by the fact that the session was to be held behind closed doors. The Russian lawmaker described this as something weird and hard to comprehend and said that the Human Rights Commissioner must have been the first person to be invited to such a session, all the more since he had visited Latvia a short time ago.
"In my opinion, this is a scandal," Margelov said. Nothing happens in the Council of Europe that should be concealed from PACE members or the Human Rights Commissioner, he added.
This incident calls into question the PACE's objectivity in discussing the status of ethnic Russians in Latvia, Margelov pointed out.
