The murder of journalists and dissidents is routine in Vladimir Putin’s Russia. So is the poisoning of foreign residents and citizens seen as enemies of the state.
So when the rock band and protest group Pussy Riot claims that one of its members, the 30-year-old Russian-Canadian journalist Pyotr Verzilov, was poisoned in Moscow last week, it is legitimate cause for alarm.
We still don’t know the reason for Mr. Verzilov’s hospitalization. He is now in Berlin, where he was transported to on Saturday. But the band says Mr. Verzilov, who initially lost his eyesight, speech and ability to walk, was poisoned. (He is now able to speak and has regained the use of his limbs.)
The Canadian government is taking this seriously. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said consular officials contacted the Moscow hospital Mr. Verzilov was first sent to. Officials are in touch with his family in Berlin.
The PM is right to express concern, given the Russian attack in Salisbury earlier this year that targeted the British citizen and former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal. That reckless use of Novichok, a chemical weapon, on British soil left one woman dead and several more hospitalized.
Canada’s next steps will be fraught, however. Russia is unlikely to co-operate with Canadian efforts to ascertain if Mr. Verzilov was poisoned. Mr. Putin still denies his country’s involvement in the Salisbury incident; the state-backed RT news channel even trotted out the British-identified suspects to issue a farcical denial last week (the two men went to Salisbury to see its famed cathedral, they insist).
We should not presume Russian guilt at this stage, but nor should we give them much benefit of the doubt. If the Kremlin actively interferes with Canadian attempts to find out what happened, and especially if evidence emerges that Mr. Verzilov was poisoned, Russia must face consequences. Expelling diplomats and imposing sanctions should be on the table.
Mr. Verzilov has not lived in Canada for more than a decade, but he went to school in Toronto for several years as a boy and has maintained his Canadian citizenship. He is entitled to this country’s protection. If foul play is behind his illness, Canada must respond.
Editor’s note: (Sept. 16, 2018) This editorial has been updated to reflect the development that Pyotr Verzilov has regained his ability to see and move his limbs.