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US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo leads the global condemnation of the Kremlin for arresting Alexei Navalny, but Moscow responds by telling Americans: ‘Take care of the problems in your own country’
- Mike Pompeo said he was ‘deeply concerned by Russia’s decision to arrest’ Navalny
- The UK Foreign Ministry said Moscow was ‘pursuing the victim’ of a ‘terrible crime’
- EU leaders and governments also criticized the arrest; some asked for sanctions
- Navalny was attacked with Novichok in August and had been treated in Germany.
- He flew back to Russia for the first time last night and was immediately arrested.
Leading politicians and diplomats called for Alexei Navalny’s immediate release last night after the Russian opposition figure was detained by security forces minutes after landing back in Moscow.
The United States, the European Union, several EU governments, Canada, and a senior adviser to the president-elect of the United States, Joe Biden, called for his release, and some in the EU urged new sanctions against Moscow.
Navalny and his wife Yulia flew to Russia yesterday from Berlin for the first time since he was left fighting for life after being poisoned with the Noivchok chemical weapon five months ago.
The Kremlin had ordered Navalny to return saying that his stay in Germany, where he was transferred into a coma in August, violated a suspended jail sentence against him. He warned him that he risked being stopped upon landing.
But after Navalny was detained last night at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo led Moscow’s condemnation.
Outgoing US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said the US “strongly condemns” the decision to arrest Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny.
Pompeo called his arrest “the latest in a series of attempts to silence Navalny and other opposition figures and independent voices criticizing the Russian authorities.”
Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny (green coat) was arrested by Russian authorities a few minutes after landing in Moscow with his wife Yulia (front of frame with mask)
Pompeo, who serves in the outgoing Trump administration, said the United States’ strongly condemns’ the decision to arrest Navalny and called his detention ‘the latest in a series of attempts to silence Navalny and other opposition figures and independent voices criticizing Russian authorities’.
Pompeo added on Twitter: ‘Deeply concerned about Russia’s decision to arrest Aleksey Navalny.
“Confident political leaders do not fear competing voices, nor do they see the need to commit acts of violence or unjustly detain political opponents.”
The election of the president-elect of the United States, Joe Biden, as national security adviser called on the Russian authorities to release Navalny.
‘Sir. Navalny must be released immediately and the perpetrators of the scandalous attack on his life must be held accountable, ” Jake Sullivan said in a tweet.
A statement from the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said: “We are deeply concerned about the 17 January arrest of Alexei Navalny.
“Instead of going after the victim of this terrible crime, the Russian authorities should investigate how a chemical weapon was used on Russian soil.”
Navalny’s allies pointed the finger at Russian President Vladimir Putin (pictured) after the opposition leader fell ill, but the Kremlin dismissed the accusations.
Charles Michel, president of the European Council, demanded the immediate release of Navalny.
And EU member Lithuania said on Sunday it would ask Brussels to quickly impose new sanctions on Russia, something Czech Foreign Minister Tomas Petricek said he wanted to discuss.
Human rights groups joined the calls. Amnesty International said that Navalny had become a prisoner of conscience and accused the Russian authorities of carrying out a “relentless campaign” to silence him.
European Council President Charles Michel wrote on Twitter that Navalny’s arrest was “unacceptable”, while the French Foreign Ministry said the arrest caused “great concern”.
“Mr. Navalny must be released immediately and the perpetrators of the scandalous attack on his life must be held accountable,” tweeted Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan.
But the unrepentant Kremlin officials refuted themselves overnight.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova targeted foreign leaders in a Facebook post, telling them to ‘respect international law’ and ‘deal with problems in their own country.’
