[ad_1]
The critic of the Russian government Alexei Navalny is said to have been arrested after returning to his home country. This was reported by the Russian media and the AP news agency, citing a letter from the Russian prison authority.
Navalny is said to have been arrested before a court hearing in which he is supposed to participate. The background for this is an alleged violation of the suspended prison sentence to which Navalny was sentenced in 2014. Russian judicial authorities had requested that Navalny’s suspended sentence be converted into a real prison sentence for not taking into account the requirement. to report to authorities in person on a regular basis. The trial is scheduled for January 29.
Navalny: Probation expired in 2019
More recently, the opposition did not respond to a request in December to appear in person at the authority’s office for a few days. Navalny announced that the suspended sentence had already ended on December 30, 2019.
On Wednesday Navalny announced that he would return to Russia this Sunday. Since he was poisoned with the Novitschok neurotoxin last August, Navalny has been in Germany to heal. It was first treated at the Charité in Berlin. Navalny blames Russian President Vladimir Putin for the poison attack. SPIEGEL also revealed how employees of the Russian secret service FSB participated in the assassination attempt.
Navalny himself contributed to the investigation: for example, he pretended to be the assistant to a Putin adviser and got an FSB agent to reveal details of the attack plan. The Russian government continues to deny its involvement in the case.
While Navalny was in Germany, the Russian judiciary had opened another case against him for “large-scale fraud”, apparently to increase the pressure. Navalny is alleged to have diverted 356 million rubles (about € 3.9 million) in donations from non-profit organizations for personal purposes. Navalny denies the allegations.
