Russian Police Detain Navalny on Arrival in Moscow
MOSCOW (Dispatches) -- Police detained blogger Alexei Navalny on arrival in Moscow on Sunday after he flew home to Russia from Germany for the first time since he was poisoned last summer, triggering a political clash with the West.
The move, which could see Navalny jailed for 3.5 years for flouting the terms of a suspended prison sentence, may reignite political pressure on the West to tighten sanctions on Russia, especially against an $11.6 billion project to build a natural gas pipeline from Russia to Germany, Reuters said.
In a case that drew wide international attention, Navalny was allegedly poisoned last summer by what German authorities claim was a Novichok nerve agent, a version of events the Kremlin rejects.
Navalny recovered in Germany and after he said last week he planned to return home, the Moscow prison service (FSIN) said it would do everything to arrest him once he returned, accusing him of flouting the terms of a suspended prison sentence for embezzlement.
But the 44-year-old opposition politician laughed and joked with journalists on his plane, saying he did not believe he would be arrested.
Four masked police officers asked Navalny to accompany him at passport control at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport, before he had formally entered Russia.
Navalny’s supporters have said incarcerating one of President Vladimir Putin’s most prominent domestic critics could turn him into a Nelson Mandela-like figure and an increasingly popular symbol of resistance to the Kremlin.
The Kremlin, which only refers to him as the "Berlin patient,” laughs that off. Putin allies point to opinion polls that show the Russian leader is far more popular than Navalny.
Moscow’s FSIN said in a statement Navalny had been detained due to violations of his suspended prison sentence and would be held in custody until a court hearing later this month that will rule whether to convert his suspended sentence into a real 3.5 jail term.
Western-backed Navalny faces potential trouble in three other criminal cases too.
U.S. President-elect Joe Biden’s incoming national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Twitter: "Mr. Navalny should be immediately released, and the perpetrators of the outrageous attack on his life must be held accountable.”
The move, which could see Navalny jailed for 3.5 years for flouting the terms of a suspended prison sentence, may reignite political pressure on the West to tighten sanctions on Russia, especially against an $11.6 billion project to build a natural gas pipeline from Russia to Germany, Reuters said.
In a case that drew wide international attention, Navalny was allegedly poisoned last summer by what German authorities claim was a Novichok nerve agent, a version of events the Kremlin rejects.
Navalny recovered in Germany and after he said last week he planned to return home, the Moscow prison service (FSIN) said it would do everything to arrest him once he returned, accusing him of flouting the terms of a suspended prison sentence for embezzlement.
But the 44-year-old opposition politician laughed and joked with journalists on his plane, saying he did not believe he would be arrested.
Four masked police officers asked Navalny to accompany him at passport control at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport, before he had formally entered Russia.
Navalny’s supporters have said incarcerating one of President Vladimir Putin’s most prominent domestic critics could turn him into a Nelson Mandela-like figure and an increasingly popular symbol of resistance to the Kremlin.
The Kremlin, which only refers to him as the "Berlin patient,” laughs that off. Putin allies point to opinion polls that show the Russian leader is far more popular than Navalny.
Moscow’s FSIN said in a statement Navalny had been detained due to violations of his suspended prison sentence and would be held in custody until a court hearing later this month that will rule whether to convert his suspended sentence into a real 3.5 jail term.
Western-backed Navalny faces potential trouble in three other criminal cases too.
U.S. President-elect Joe Biden’s incoming national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Twitter: "Mr. Navalny should be immediately released, and the perpetrators of the outrageous attack on his life must be held accountable.”