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Russian opponent Alexei Navalni is scheduled to return to Moscow this Sunday, after several months of convalescence in Germany after suffering an alleged poisoning, despite threats of arrest by the Russian justice.
Since Vladimir Putin’s main enemy announced on Wednesday his intention to return, the Russian prison services (FSIN) have warned him and assured that they will be “forced” to arrest him for violating the conditions of a suspended sentence imposed on him by the justice in 2014.
Navalni, 44, ignored these maneuvers that, according to him, are designed to “intimidate him” and asked his supporters to come to meet him at Moscow’s Vnukovo airport, where his plane is scheduled to land at 7:20 p.m. ( 1:20 pm in Chile).
On the eve of his departure, the opponent thanked the German doctors, policemen and politicians he met during the five months he spent in the country. “Thanks folks,” he wrote on Instagram.
The leading figure in the Russian opposition suddenly fell into a coma in August, returning from a trip to Siberia. He was initially hospitalized in Omsk, a large city in the region, but was evacuated a few days later to a Berlin hospital after pressure from his close associates.
Three European laboratories concluded that the opponent was poisoned with a Novichok-type nerve agent, developed in Soviet times, a conclusion confirmed by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OIAC) despite the fact that Moscow has denied it.
The opponent accuses the Russian special services (FSB) of having tried to assassinate him on the direct order of Vladimir Putin.
However, the Russian authorities accused the Western secret services and even the hygiene of Navalni’s life.
Until now, Moscow has refused to open an investigation to find out what happened to Navalni, due to Germany’s alleged refusal to share its information with Russia.
Berlin announced on Saturday that it has transmitted to Moscow all elements of its judicial investigation, in particular the “records” of Navalni’s interrogations and “blood and tissue samples, as well as pieces of clothing,” while waiting for the authorities to “throw light on crime ”.
Fraud investigation
According to the FSIN, Navalni breached the conditions of the 2014 sentence while in Germany, which requires him to report to the prison administration at least twice a week.
Since the end of December, the opponent is also the subject of a new investigation for fraud, on suspicion of having spent 356 million rubles (3.9 million euros, 4.8 million dollars) in donations for his personal use.
More than 2,000 people have announced on Facebook that they will receive it, but the courts have warned of the risks of participating in an unauthorized “public event” at Vnukovo airport.
Several activists who were to travel to Moscow from St. Petersburg to meet with the opponent were detained by the police before leaving, according to the media.
For their part, nationalist groups hostile to Navalni threatened to receive him with “zelionka”, a green antiseptic difficult to clean, with which they had already sprayed the opponent in the past.
The airport stated that it will not authorize the press to work at the terminal due to the coronavirus pandemic. Videos posted on social media showed riot police outside the building.
Despite being practically ignored by the national press, he is neither represented in Parliament nor eligible, Navalni remains the main voice of the opposition in part thanks to his YouTube channel which has 4.8 million subscribers and to his organization, the Fund to Fight Corruption (FBK), which denounces the corruption of the elites.
Despite the raids, the pressure and the short prison terms of Navalni or his allies, the latter has managed to organize several very close demonstrations in recent years, causing several setbacks to power in local elections.
His fame is still limited outside the big cities. A poll by the independent Levada center in September found that only 20% of Russians approve of his actions.
For the experts, the announced return of Navalni is a stone in the Kremlin’s shoe: releasing him would be a show of weakness and imprisoning him would threaten to provoke a new scandal.
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