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Alexei Navaln, leader of the Russian opposition, was arrested Monday at Sheremetyevo airport, near Moscow. A critic of the Kremlin was arrested shortly after landing after he passed passport control. He flew in from Germany, where he has been treated for poisoning since August.
Initially, the plane with the opposition was supposed to land at Vnukov Airport, where his supporters and the media gathered, but at the last minute it was directed to a larger international airport in the Russian capital.
At that time, Russian police detained four close Navaln allies at Vnukov airport.
Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navaln in a video posted after a 30-day arrest by a judge urged Russians to take to the streets to protest their treatment, Reuters reported.
“Don’t be afraid, go out on the street. Don’t go for me, go for yourself and your future, “he says in a video posted on YouTube.
A. Navalnas.
Ivan Zhdanov, director of the Navalno Anticorruption Foundation, wrote on Twitter that one of the four arrested is his close ally, Liubov Sobol. Images filmed by local journalists show the police taking her and other people out.
According to AFP journalists, a large police force is concentrated at the airport. Authorities warned that mass rallies are not allowed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The opposition website MBKh Media says that at least 10 people have been detained at the airport, including a journalist.
According to I. Zhdanov, among the detainees are A. Navaln’s comrades Ruslan Shavedinov and Anastasia Kadetova, as well as Ilya Pachomov, who was with A. Navaln when he felt ill during the flight in August.
The Office of the United Nations (UN) Commissioner for Human Rights said Monday that Navaln’s arrest had “caused great concern” and demanded his immediate release.
“We are very concerned about the arrest of Mr. Navaln and call for his immediate release and his rights during the trial in accordance with the rule of law. We reiterate the call for a full and impartial investigation into his poisoning,” said the United Nations High Commissioner United for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, on her Twitter account.
The president of the European Commission (EC), Ursula von der Leyen, joined other Western officials and was also quick to condemn the arrest of the Russian opposition and demanded their release.
“I condemn the arrest of Alexei Navaln. The Russian authorities must immediately release him and guarantee his safety,” he said. Der Lejen also reiterated Brussels’ call for an independent investigation into Navaln’s attack on his life. “
The Baltic countries were not far behind either: Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian Foreign Ministers Gabrielius Landsbergis, Edgaras Rinkevičius and Urmas Reinsalu wrote a letter to the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrelli, calling for greater pressure from the EU to free Navalnas.
The ministers asked to discuss the issue on January 25. Meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council and consider EU restrictive measures.
Political scientist Vadim VOLOVOJUS comments on the situation:
Why was the West suddenly so “excited”? Well, now it is considered Russia’s main opposition, so there is a great opportunity to demonstrate once again its enormous contribution to the supposed fight for “human rights” and “democracy” …
And if not, common sense should be on. Here is A. Navaln saying: I am persecuted in every way for my political activities, the FSB wanted to poison me and my wife several times, I barely escaped and managed to escape to the democratic world, I breathed open air, but … I was cured and I come back . There is something wrong with the logic here: after all, they will try to poison or kill again, if true, and it was clear to the hedgehog … In other words, the script of the play was known in advance by both the public and the participants: reporters All of Europe and the rest of the “democratic” world had even prepared press releases beforehand with sincere outrage at Navaln’s arrest, although when the texts of these sincerely outraged reports were being drafted, he lay most quietly possible in the Berlin clinic bed. ..
Well, the idea is understood in the general context of the confrontation between Russia and the Western world: it must be shown that Russia oppresses and persecutes the opposition, before Magnicki, now Navalna … Only in some way very tasteless and ridiculous This all feels like elementary and distant politics.
If we look at what Naravn is like in Russia itself, it is obvious that it is not an important opponent, as the West or here we are trying to show. It is neither very popular nor famous. Russia will certainly not collapse due to its activities, nor is it dangerous to the Kremlin.
However, it must be recognized that the government itself places a certain emphasis on those endless cases and investigations against it. The impression is that attempts are being made to plant it selectively, although its threat to the regime and the stability of the government is absolutely minimal. In essence, Russia itself is elevating Navalna and itself gives the West a pretext to point the finger at the lack of “democracy” or “human rights” violations.
So everyone here has achieved their goals. It is useful for A. Navaln, who dreams of a political career, to be the main and most important opponent of the Russian government, although everyone else is angry about it … There is also a kind of competition in this area, similar to Belarus, where Cichanouskaya was declared the main opponent. Therefore, A. Navalnas is committed to his political business and is pleased to be the center of attention. The West is also satisfied, because the arrest of A. Navalns creates a pretext to pressure Russia and portray the great fighters for “values”, marking themselves … Even with us, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was activated, a list was discussed of new sanctions, orally, all had activities. Russia’s incomprehensible position: who should have emphasized it in this way? Perhaps some Putin personalities appear here, he doesn’t even call him by name at first. This all seems very strange. It would be easier to ignore the activities of Navaln, its anti-corruption investigations and exposing … Much of this does not have much resonance that can destabilize political stability in the country, the less you pay attention to it, the less it will be affected and the West will not want to invest in him because it wouldn’t pay political dividends, but for some reason Moscow is doing the opposite and looking for adventure. on a level surface …
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