Germany condemns Navalni’s arrest after his arrival in Russia and demands his “immediate” release

MADRID, 18 (EUROPA PRESS)

The Government of Germany has condemned this Monday the arrest of the Russian opponent Alexei Navalni after his return to the country from Berlin, where he has recovered from the alleged poisoning suffered last year, and has demanded his “immediate” release.

“After his recovery, Alexei Navalni consciously returned to Russia because he considers it to be his personal and political home. The fact that he was arrested by the Russian authorities immediately after his arrival is completely incomprehensible,” said German Foreign Minister Heiko. Maas.

Thus, he has indicated that “Russia is subject to its own Constitution and international obligations with the rule of law and the protection of civil rights” and has added that “these principles must also be applied to Navalni.” “It must be released immediately,” he added.

“Navalni was the victim of a serious poison attack on Russian territory. We continue to hope that Russia will do everything possible to investigate this attack and hold those responsible to account,” Maas said in a series of messages posted on his account on the social network Twitter.

At first, the Navalni environment had reported that the political activist had passed the police controls without major inconvenience. However, several of his supporters and even one of his closest associates had been detained at Moscow-Vnukovo International Airport, where Navalni was originally scheduled to land.

The Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia (FSIN) said Navalni was detained because “he has pending a suspended sentence and since December 29, 2020 he has been in search for numerous violations of the probationary period.” The opponent will remain in custody pending a court ruling, the FSIN added.

Navalni collapsed on an internal flight on August 20 and was later flown to Berlin for treatment. The European Union imposed sanctions in October against several senior officials close to Russian President Vladimir Putin after laboratories in Germany, France and Sweden determined that Navalni had been poisoned with a chemical nerve agent developed by the Soviets known as Novichok.

The prominent Russian opponent denounced that Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), the main successor agency to the Soviet KGB, was directly responsible for his assassination attempt. The Russian president has dismissed the accusations on numerous occasions.