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Navalny was arrested on arrival in Sheremetyevo (France Press)
The decision of the Russian opposition Alexei Navalny to return to his country put the authorities in an embarrassing situation, after being forced to implement previous threats to arrest him if he arrived in Moscow, which happened the day before yesterday, Sunday. The arrest of the most critical opponent of the government of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and the elite close to him, heralds a new crisis with the West and an unfortunate start with the administration of new US President Joe Biden, who will begin work tomorrow Wednesday. Navalny’s arrest could also disrupt the Kremlin’s plans to obtain an absolute majority in the parliamentary elections scheduled for autumn this year to elect the new State Duma (parliament), which will be responsible for ratifying the power transmission mechanism in 2024. Last night, Sunday, in apparent defiance of the authorities, Navalny decided to return to Russia after a 5-month treatment and recovery period in Germany, to be treated for the poisoning. Navalny’s plane was scheduled to land at Vinkovo airport in the capital, but security forces arrested several of his supporters there and his plane was diverted to Sheremetyevo airport. The opposition, which chose to fly “Pobeda” (which means victory), to return to Moscow, did not worry about threats from the Russian Prison Service and its guarantee that he would be arrested upon landing in Moscow. In effect, the police arrested him, in compliance with a court order that accused him of violating the rules related to the need not to leave the country, and of proving his presence in a police station twice a month, according to a 3-year court sentence and a half in prison suspended in 2014.
Navalny could disrupt Kremlin control over Duma elections
After his actions fell as a result of his absence for nearly five months for treatment, Navalny has emerged since Sunday night as the most prominent leader of the Russian opposition, despite constant efforts by authorities to present him as a “rampant” blogger who seeks to blackmail businessmen and ruling elites, and present him as a tool in the hands of external intelligence services to destabilize the situation in Russia. During Navalny’s interrogation, yesterday, at a police station, the security forces detained several of his supporters, before the Khimki Court in Moscow issued an arrest decision until February 15. On January 29, the Simonovsky court in Moscow is also scheduled to hear the case of Navalny’s violation of the probationary regime in a suspended prison sentence, and whether it will be replaced by actual imprisonment. However, Navalny, in a video posted on social media, appeared upset in the courtroom and said: “I have seen many cases of flouting the law, but the issue here is the absolute absence of the law.” He added: “Grandfather (Putin) is so scared in his hiding place, to the point that the Code of Criminal Procedure was destroyed and thrown away,” referring to a court session at a police station. Navalny called on the Russians to “go out into the streets” against the regime, adding that “what these gangs (in the government) fear most is that people go out into the streets. So don’t be afraid, go out into the streets, not for me but for you, for your future. ” “. Navalny was poisoned last August, during a trip to Siberia. The pilot then decided to make an emergency landing in Tomsk, where he underwent first aid. Later, under pressure from his family, Navalny was transferred to the German capital Berlin and underwent intensive treatment, in which it was discovered that he had been exposed to Novichok gas. Navalny’s return to the country denies his status as a foreign agent working from abroad, and incites his people to Demonstrate against the regime, while he and his family live safely in Europe, as promoted by the authorities. The wide reception and media coverage of Navalny’s brave move to return reveals that the authorities can no longer ignore him. Angry international reactions demonstrate that it is no longer just an “internal problem”, the ruling elites disagree on how to solve it, but rather an “external problem”, with Navalny becoming a “political prisoner”. Knowing that Russia has rarely seen political prisoners in recent years, with the exception of billionaire Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who was arrested as a result of his business in the company “Yukos” and the exploitation of privatization programs in the early 1990s for quick enrichment. It is clear that the Russian authorities preferred not to return Navalny for various reasons, including limiting the ability of the “non-domesticated” opposition to organize its ranks in an election year that would witness the election of the State Duma, concerned about organize the transfer of power in 2024, either from Putin to a successor determined by him or reinstalling Putin himself nominated for this post. Although there is no indication that Navalny supporters or other parties can pull the rug out of the ruling United Russia party, the Kremlin’s past experiences with Navalny in organizing protests and devising ways to alienate power representatives through “elections smart “worry you. Knowing that decision-makers in Moscow strive to achieve the victory of Putin’s supporters by more than two-thirds of the members of the Duma, in order to secure an absolute majority and pass any decision to the Kremlin. Navalny’s arrest could lead him to become a “legendary hero”, who chose to continue to fight the corruption of power, and his success in reversing the results of the future Duma. The international reactions that reject Navalny’s arrest and call for his immediate release warn of a new confrontation between the Kremlin and the West. The Russian authorities are afraid to respond to Western pressure, because they will appear weak in front of their supporters. Navalny will also take advantage of his release, to become the country’s “second person” after Putin, the person who ignored the Kremlin’s threats and returned victorious to Moscow after a failed attempt to poison him, and the authorities sought to keep him away in exile. European.
Authorities announced Navalny’s arrest until February 15
Yesterday, Monday, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights expressed grave concern over Navalny’s arrest and called for his immediate release. The Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, said in a tweet on “Twitter”: “We are extremely concerned about the arrest of Alexei Navalny, and we ask for his immediate release and respect for his right to a judicial process in accordance with the rule of law. We reiterate our call for a thorough and objective investigation into his poisoning. ” In turn, Amnesty International considered, on Sunday night, that Navalny’s arrest makes him a “prisoner of conscience”, the victim of a “relentless campaign” by the Russian authorities to “silence him”. For their part, the president of the “Council of Europe”, Charles Michel, the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, of Germany, Great Britain and Poland called for the release of Navalny “immediately”. In the United States, the administration of the president-elect of the United States, Joe Biden, has called for Navalny’s release and the United States Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, has condemned the attempt to “silence Navalny.” However, a spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, responded via Facebook saying: “Pay attention to your own problems,” noting that Western countries’ calls for Navalny’s release are aimed at diverting attention to “the deepest crisis facing the liberal development model itself.”
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