STRASBOURG. Sep 29 (Interfax-AVN) - Leader of the People's Democratic Union of Russia, ex-premier Mikhail Kasyanov supports the idea of an international probe into Russia's actions against Georgia.
"The aggression the Russian authorities have unleashed against Georgia should be condemned internationally. I support the idea of creating an international commission on the issue," Kasyanov told a press conference between sessions of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in Strasbourg.
He backed a proposal to include debate on suspending the powers of the Russian delegation in the PACE into the assembly's agenda.
"It doesn't matter what the decision will be like. What's important is that nearly 25-30% of Russian citizens want Russia to be a democratic state and it's important for them to know that it's not only them who criticize actions by the Russian authorities but that people abroad hold identical views," Kasyanov said.
"The main features of democratic states are the division of powers, independent courts, free and honest elections, free mass media and so on. Today Russia has no traits of a democratic state," he said.
In Kasyanov's opinion, power in Russia has been usurped which made it irremovable and filled with it a sense of impunity in foreign policy, as follows from Russia's aggressive actions against Georgia.
"The current Russian administration has cast doubt on an agreement on the country's accession to the Council of Europe, which was signed in 1996," he remarked.
On Monday, Kasyanov filed a complaint with the Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights about the Russian Justice Ministry's refusal to register his political party People for Democracy and Justice.