Law enforcement officers block a road leading to Dvortsovaya Square in central St. Petersburg on Feb. 2, 2021.
Opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who returned to Russia from Germany last month, was sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison by a Moscow court on Feb. 2 for violating the terms of his probation. Western countries such as the United States, Britain, France and Germany called on Russia to release him immediately, while Lithuania and Latvia urged the European Union to impose sanctions on Russia.
A Moscow court sentenced Alexei Navalny to three and a half years in prison, but the Time he spent under house arrest will count toward his sentence, so he will actually serve two years and eight months. Navalny’s lawyer said he will appeal. Navalny was sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison in 2014 and received a suspended sentence.
Navalny’s allies have called on supporters to immediately head to central Moscow to protest the sentence.
Western countries such as the United States, Britain, France and Germany have called on Russia to release him immediately.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement that the U.S. is deeply concerned about the decision by Moscow authorities and that “even as we work with Russia to advance U.S. interests, we will coordinate closely with our allies and partners to hold Russia accountable for its failure to uphold civil rights.”
The Russian foreign minister, however, said the West’s call for the release was contrary to reality and asked the West not to interfere in Russia’s sovereign affairs. Earlier, the Kremlin also said it ignored the West’s calls and said Navalny’s case was a purely internal affair.
Navalny was arrested upon his return last month, and thousands of people have taken to the streets in Moscow and other cities over the past two weekends to protest Navalny’s arrest. The independent watchdog group OVD-Info said on Monday that police cracked down on the demonstrations, arresting more than 5,300 people, and on February 2, police extended their arrests to 311 people outside a Moscow court.
Police detain a man during a protest in central St. Petersburg on Feb. 2, 2021.
Police detain a man during a protest in central Moscow on February 2, 2021.
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