Alexei Navalny was apparently arrested by police of the Kremlin when he arrived at an airport in Moscow after he flew home to Russia from Germany for the first time since his poisoning in the middle of last year. .
The move on Sunday, which could imprison Navalny for three and a half years for upholding suspended prison sentence terms, is likely to send a wave of Western criticism of President Vladimir Putin.
In a case that attracted widespread international attention, Navalny was poisoned last year by what German military tests showed as Novichok ‘s zero – acting agent, a version of events that the Kremlin denies.
A Navalny plane from Berlin was taken to another airport in Moscow at the last minute in an apparent attempt by authorities to prevent journalists and supporters from welcoming him.
After Navalny announced last week that he intended to return home, the Moscow prison service (FSIN) said he would do everything to arrest him once he returned, sending on behalf of which he imposed suspended prison sentence conditions for explosion, a case in 2014 which he says was collected.
But the 44-year-old opposition politician laughed and mocked reporters on his plane, saying he did not think he would be arrested.
As it turned out, he was quickly arrested when he showed his passport to border guards before formally entering Russia, Reuters witnesses said. His wife, Yulia, his spokesman, and his lawyer were allowed to enter Russia.
FSIN said in a statement that Navalny was detained as a result of the charges levied on his suspended prison sentence and would be remanded in custody until a court hearing later this month ruling whether his suspended sentence should be converted into a prison term.
Navalny and his wife Yulia Navalnaya walk out of a plane after arriving at Sheremetyevo airport, Moscow [Polina Ivanova/Reuters]
Navalny, one of Putin ‘s most prominent domestic critics, may have trouble in three other criminal cases as well, all of which he says are politically motivated.
Navalny has said putin was behind his poisoning. The Kremlin denied involvement, said it had seen no evidence of poisoning, and was free to return to Russia.
Al Jazeera’s Aleksandra Godfroid, reporting from Moscow, said Navalny made a brief statement just before passport control in which he said he was happy to return and was not afraid.
“This is the message he really wanted to convey to Russian citizens and the public by deciding to return to the country where he was poisoned, where he died. and whose authorities are refusing to investigate this, saying there is no proof that the crime against him was committed, ”she said.
‘Totally inappropriate’
Members of the European Union have called on Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia for “restrictive measures” against Russia following the arrest of Navalny, Lithuania’s foreign minister said in a tweet on Sunday.
“It is impossible to accept Alexei Navalny with the Russian authorities. We want her to be released immediately, ”said minister Gabrielius Landsbergis.
“The EU should act swiftly and if it is not released, we need to consider taking preventative measures in response to this infamous act,” he said.
France expressed “grave concern” over Navalny’s arrest. A spokesman for France’s foreign ministry said the country and its European partners were “following the situation with full caution and demanding its immediate release”.
Italy’s foreign minister also called the arrest of Navalny “a real case”.
L’arresto di Navalny al suo arrivo san Ruis è un fatto molto uaigh, che ci preoccupa. Ne chiediamo l’immediato rilascio. E ci aspettiamo che siano rispettati i suoi diritti.
– Luigi Di Maio (@luigidimaio) January 17, 2021
“We want her immediate release. And we expect his rights to be respected, ”Luigi Di Maio tweeted.
Council of Europe President Charles Michel also called the arrest of Navalny “inappropriate”.
“I call on the Russian authorities to release him immediately.”
Joe Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan also called for his release.
Kremlin attacks on Mr. Navalny is not just a violation of human rights, but a support for the Russian people who want their voices heard, ”Sullivan wrote on Twitter.
Law enforcement officers at Vnukovo International Airport in Moscow, Russia [Handout via Reuters]
A Navalny plane was due to arrive at Vnukovo airport in Moscow, but was landed at Sheremetyevo airport in Moscow. The flight was operated by Russian airline Pobeda, which was state-controlled by Aeroflot.
His supporters gathered at Vnukovo airport despite a forecast of a severe cold minus 22 Celsius and more than 4,500 new cases of coronavirus daily in the Russian capital.
Godfroid, reporting for Al Jazeera, said there was a heavy police presence at Vnukovo airport, as well as several prison transport vans, and that police had cleared people without tickets for travel from the airport building.
OVD-Info, an investigative group, said police detained 53 people in Moscow and five in St. Petersburg.
“[Navalny’s] The decision to return, despite the threat of a long prison sentence, is seen here as a heroic move and a particular challenge for the authorities. It is also seen as an incentive for the opposition, ”said Godfroid.
Poisoning in August
Navalny fell into a coma while boarding a domestic flight from Siberia to Moscow on 20 August. He was transferred from a hospital in Siberia to a hospital in Berlin two days later.
Russian authorities claimed that the doctors who treated Navalny in Siberia before it was taken to Germany found no trace of poison and have challenged German authorities to provide proof. that it is poisoned.
They refused to open a fully-open criminal investigation, citing a lack of evidence that Navalny had been poisoned.
Last month, Navalny released a recording of a phone call he said he made to a man he said was an accused member of a group of Federal Security Service, or FSB, officials who allegedly poisoned him. in August and then tried to cover it. up.
The FSB rejected the registration as fraudulent.
Navalny has been a thorn in the side of the Kremlin for a decade, surprisingly persistent in a challenging movement often fueled by reactions.
A trained lawyer, he began to rise to prominence by focusing on corruption in Russia’s deceptive mix of politics and industry.
In 2013, he placed second in the race for the mayor of Moscow behind the candidate of Putin’s state power party, United Russia. That established him as a strong force and a cause of concern for the Kremlin.
He was repeatedly imprisoned in connection with protests and twice convicted of financial offenses in cases he said were politically motivated.
He suffered severe eye damage when a disinfectant threw a disinfectant in his face and he was taken from prison to hospital in 2019 with an illness that authorities said was an allergic reaction but many who was suspected of poisoning.