More than 40 predominantly Western countries are calling for an independent and international investigation into the death of Russian Kremlin opponent Alexei Navalny. “The political leadership and the authorities in Russia must be held accountable,” Lotte Knudsen, EU ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, said on Monday on behalf of the group of states at a meeting of the UN Human Rights Council. Russian President Vladimir Putin was ultimately responsible for Navalny’s death in a prison camp, she said. The countries also called for the immediate release of all other political prisoners in…