OREANDA-NEWS. German law enforcement agencies cannot start a criminal investigation into the possible poisoning of Russian politician Aleksey Navalny, since it occurred not on the territory of the country. This was reported by the newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung. The publication clarifies that the Berlin prosecutor’s office could join the investigation if the health condition of Navalny deteriorated.

Sueddeutsche Zeitung also writes that the German government has provided the experts of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons with a helicopter to safely deliver the samples taken from Navalny to The Hague. Earlier, a German military laboratory found traces of the Novichok group’s poison in his body.

In Russia, a pre-investigation check has begun on the fact of what happened to Navalny. On September 21, the Prosecutor General’s Office of Russia asked the Ministry of Justice of the Federal Republic of Germany to give an opportunity to interview the politician. The decision to initiate a criminal case or to refuse it has not yet been made. The Russian authorities and doctors insist that no toxic substances were found in Navalny’s body prior to his transportation to Berlin.