Calls are growing from the international community for jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny to be freed. Germany says it can't rule out further sanctions against Russia.
Germany, the UK and US have all criticized Navalny's prison sentence
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The list of voices from the international community demanding an immediate release of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny continued to grow on Wednesday.
He will serve two years and eight months due to time already spent under house arrest. The outspoken Kremlin critic called the trial an attempt to "intimidate" the public.
UN human rights spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said on Wednesday that her office was "deeply dismayed" that Navalny was sentence over a case that the European Court of Human Rights in 2017 had "unanimously found" to be "arbitrary, unfair and manifestly unreasonable."
"We urge the authorities in Russia to immediately release all those detained for exercising their right to freedom of peaceful assembly and expression yesterday and over the past few weeks of protests across the country," she added in a statement.
"The verdict against Alexei Navalny is far from any rule of law standards. Navalny must be released at once," Merkel was quoted as saying in a tweet by her spokesman.
"Violence against peaceful demonstrators must stop," she stressed.
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas called the ruling a "bitter blow against fundamental freedoms and the rule of law in Russia."
The German government said on Wednesday further sanctions against Russia cannot be ruled out.
Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert said Berlin plans to discuss further steps with its European partners.
Ruling is 'pure cowardice,' says UK
In a tweet, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson also called for Navalny's release and dubbed the ruling as "pure cowardice", adding that it failed to meet "the most basic standards of justice."
British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab issued a statement saying that the "perverse ruling, targeting the victim of a poisoning rather than those responsible, shows Russia is failing to meet the most basic commitments expected of any responsible member of the international community."
"A political disagreement is never a crime. We call for his immediate release. The respect for human rights such as democratic freedom are not negotiable," he said.
European Council President Charles Michel said that the EU will not accept the ruling.
"We do not accept his sentence — justice must not be politicized. Protesters have the right to demonstrate peacefully and voice their political views," Michel said on Twitter.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged Russia to release Navalny and his supporters.
"We reiterate our call for the Russian government to immediately and unconditionally release Mr. Navalny, as well as the hundreds of other Russian citizens wrongfully detained in recent weeks for exercising their rights, including the rights to freedom of expression and of peaceful assembly," he said.
Russia lashes out at criticism
In a statement to RBC news channel, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova, issued a scathing response to the growing international criticism by asking countries to not meddle in the Kremlin's internal affairs.
"For the last few weeks we have been in a state of comments. And responses to similar attacks and statements," she said. "You should not interfere in the internal affairs of a sovereign state. And we recommend that everyone deal with their own problems ... There are a lot of problems in these countries, there is work to be done."
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday that "the holding of unauthorized rallies raises concerns and justifies the tough actions of the police."
"The police reaction was due to the threats that could have arisen from staging such a protest," said Peskov. "The provocations comprise of the fact that there were calls yesterday for unsanctioned protests."
Who is Alexei Navalny?
Alexei Navalny is one of Russia's most prominent opposition leaders, having spearheaded protests against Russian President Vladimir Putin. He has been imprisoned in Russia since 2021.
Image: Imago Images/Itar-Tass/S. Fadeichev
Face of Russia's opposition
The lawyer-turned-political campaigner has been among the most prominent figures of Russia's opposition to President Vladimir Putin. Navalny came to prominence in 2008, when his blog exposing malpractice in Russian politics and among the country's major state-owned companies came to public attention. Revelations published on his blog even led to resignations, a rarity in Russian politics.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/TASS/V. Sharifulin
Disputed parliamentary elections
In 2011 Navalny was arrested for the first time. He ended up spending 15 days in prison for his role at a rally outside the State Duma in Moscow. A recent parliamentary election victory for Putin's United Russia had been marred by instances of ballot stuffing, reported by demonstrators on social media. Upon his release, Navalny pledged to continue the protest movement.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/A. Stenin
Second jail term
After being reelected president in 2012, Putin ordered Russia's Investigative Committee to launch a criminal inquiry into Navalny's past. The following year the campaigner was charged and sentenced again, this time for five years, for alleged embezzlement in the city of Kirov. However, he was released the following day pending affirmation from a higher court. The sentence was later suspended.
Image: Reuters
Anti-Kremlin platform grows
Despite being embroiled in legal troubles, Navalny was allowed to run in the 2013 Moscow mayoral election. A second-place finish behind Putin ally Sergei Sobyanin was seen as an overwhelming success and galvanized the Russian opposition movement.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Navalny takes to social media
His anti-Kremlin rhetoric led Navalny to be banned from appearing on Russian state-owned television. That forced him to deliver his political message over social media and his blog. His talent for public speaking, punchy use of language and humorous mockery of Putin and his loyalists mobilized a legion of young followers.
Image: Alexei Navalny/Youtube
Presidential ambitions
In December 2016, the opposition leader announced the formal start of his campaign to run for the Russian presidency in March 2018. However, repeated accusations of corruption, which his supporters say are politically motivated, ultimately barred him from running for public office.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/K. Kudryavtsev
Moscow's biggest protests in 6 years
In February 2017, anti-corruption rallies across dozens of Russian cities led to the arrests of over 1,000 demonstrators, including Navalny. The protests, believed to have been the largest in the Russian capital since 2012, were spurred by a report published by Navalny linking Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev to a property empire valued at billions of euros. Navalny was released 15 days later.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/Evgeny Feldman for Alexey Navalny's campaign
Physically assaulted
Navalny was assaulted and hospitalized in April 2017 after being hit in the eye with a chemical green dye. The attack permanently damaged his right cornea. Navalny accused Russian authorities of stopping him from seeking medical treatment abroad due to the embezzlement conviction against him. He was eventually permitted by the Kremlin human rights council to travel to Spain for eye surgery.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/E. Feldman
Repeated arrests
In 2018, Navalny was jailed for 30 days. After his release in September, he faced another 20-day stint. In April 2019, the European Court of Human Rights ruled Russia had violated Navalny's rights by holding him under house arrest for most of 2014 during the Kirov embezzlement case.
Image: Reuters/M. Shemetov
Alleged poisoning
In July 2019, only weeks after being released from a 10-day jail sentence, Navalny was again jailed for 30 days for violating Russia's strict protest laws. The opposition leader accused Russia of poisoning him with an allergic agent while in jail.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/navalny.com
Raids and frozen assets
Using YouTube and social media, Navalny had amassed a following of millions by late December 2019. Then police raided his Anti-Corruption Foundation headquarters (pictured), detaining him in the process. His staff said officials wanted to confiscate their tech equipment. Just a few months later, in March, Navalny reported that his bank accounts and those of his family members had been frozen.
Image: Reuters/FBK Handout
A plane — and a coma
On August 20, Navalny's spokesperson announced the activist became violently ill during a flight from Siberia to Moscow. The plane made an emergency landing, and Navalny was rushed to a hospital in Russia's Omsk and later evacuated to Berlin's Charite clinic (pictured). Doctors said he was in a coma. Navalny's associates claimed he had been poisoned and pointed to previous attacks on the activist.
Image: Reuters/C. Mang
Back from the brink
Navalny was taken out of the coma less than three weeks later and was said to be responsive. Not long afterwards, he was posting on Instagram, saying he was slowly regaining strength following weeks of only being "technically alive." The German government said labs in France and Sweden both confirmed that Navalny had been poisoned with the Soviet-era nerve agent Novichok.
Navalny had promised to return to Russia and he did so, despite warnings that he would be arrested. He was taken into police custody shortly after arriving in Moscow. The dissident had said he was "not afraid of anything." He was ordered to spend two years and eight months in a penal colony for violating terms of his probation while recovering in Germany from his poisoning.
Image: Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP/Getty Images
Further charges and years behind bars
Since being imprisoned in 2021, Navalny has faced even more charges and trials: in 2022, he was sentenced to an additional nine-year term for embezzlement and contempt of court, charges his supporters say are fabricated. Appearing via video from prison during a court hearing this spring, Navalny said he was now being charged with new alleged crimes that would further extend his time in prison.
Image: Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP Photo/picture alliance
