Kremlin Critic Navalny Jailed For Month After Returning Home
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
(Worthy News) – A Russian court has jailed the nation’s most prominent Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny for 30 days despite several countries’ calls to release him immediately. The decision came shortly after Navalny was detained following his return from Germany, where he received medical treatment for nerve agent poisoning.
In Moscow, the judge agreed with state prosecutors that Navalny should remain behind bars for at least a month. And another court was due to decide whether to convert a suspended 3.5-year sentence into real jail time.
He received the sentence on what he has his supporters view as politically motivated charges of embezzlement. Navalny complained about the circumstances surrounding Monday’s court hearing.
In a video, seen by Worthy News, Navalny recalled that he was taken out of prison to meet with his lawyers. But he wondered why the trial was held inside a police station. He described the hearing as “the highest degree of lawlessness.” Navalny lashed out at President Vladimir Putin, calling him “a grandfather in a bunker who threw the criminal code into the dustbin” out of fear.
The troubles began late Sunday when he was flying home from Germany for the first time since he was poisoned last summer. The 44-year old Navalny was arrested after his flight from Germany landed at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport. In video footage, police said they would “have to use physical force or other means” if they don’t turn themselves involuntarily. His lawyer could be heard protesting, but it didn’t impress the police. Navalny kissed his wife goodbye and was whished away.
FLIGHT DIVERTED
The arrest happened in Moscow after his flight was diverted. That came as a disappointment for many supporters who were expecting him at a different Moscow airport.
Police began cracking down on them. Several people were detained. Navalny was returning to the country five months after being almost killed in an attack with the Soviet-era nerve agent novichok. He blamed the Kremlin, but Moscow has denied involvement in the poisoning of Navalny.
The United Nations and Western nations told Russia on Monday to immediately free the opposition politician. Some countries called for new sanctions.
But Moscow told them to mind their own business. Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said Western politicians were using the case to, in his words, “divert attention” from their domestic problems.
The standoff comes ahead of parliamentary elections this year in which Navalny supporters plan to participate. While Navalny could have remained in Germany, he didn’t want to be a dissident in exile.
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