Amnesty International (AI) has gathered nearly 200,000 signatures in favor of the release of the imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalni, who will soon be delivered to the Kremlin, the NGO reported in a statement on Friday.
“195,482 signatures from different countries have been gathered to demand an immediate release of the Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalni,” says AI.
According to the note, part of the collected signatures have already been forwarded to the Russian authorities through the embassies of the great Slavic country in different countries.
The petition itself was delivered today in the Russian presidential administration by the director of the Russian office of the NGO, Natalia Zviaguina.
“Our supporters and all the people who have signed the petition agree that the arrest and imprisonment of Alexéi Navalni has a political background and an arbitrary character,” Zviaguina said.
AI’s note adds that the NGO will continue its international campaign for the release of the opposition leader and all Russian prisoners of conscience.
Russia yesterday accused the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) of meddling in its judicial system for demanding the release of the imprisoned politician.
Last Tuesday, the ECHR demanded his immediate release as a precautionary measure, arguing that the life of the opponent is possibly in danger.
Navalni, 44, was arrested on January 17 at the Moscow airport on his return from Germany, where he recovered for almost five months from poisoning with a toxic agent for military use.
Just over two weeks ago, the Russian courts enforced a suspended sentence of three and a half years in prison to which Navalni was sentenced in 2014 in a trial that the ECHR described as arbitrary and ordered Russia to financially compensate the opponent.
During that trial, Navalni spent 10 months under house arrest, a period that will be deducted from his sentence.