Russia's Foreign Ministry sees no legal grounds to open an international investigation into Alexander Dolmatov's death in a Dutch deportation center, the ministry said in a statement on its website Thursday.
"Dolmatov's case falls within the jurisdiction of the Netherlands, where he died. No international institution has the legal right to investigate such cases," the statement said.
The statement also reassured activists of the Other Russia political party, of which Dolmatov was a member, that the ministry will "firmly insist on an exhaustive investigation into the death of the Russian citizen."
Dolmatov fled to the Netherlands to seek asylum after being sought by investigators in connection with violence at the May 6 rally on Bolotnaya Ploshchad. He was found dead in Rotterdam on Jan. 17 in what was deemed a suicide.
Other Russia activists led by Eduard Limonov appealed to the Foreign Ministry "to use all diplomatic power and initiate an international investigation into Alexander Dolmatov's death."
Limonov reacted to the ministry's statement Thursday by calling officials "cowards" and saying "the ministry cannot destroy relations between the Netherlands and Russia" on his blog.
"Nord Stream, Sakhalin-2, Shell on the one side of the scale, and the violent death of a Russian citizen in a Dutch prison on the other. These things are not commensurate," he said.
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