Russian opposition political leader Alexei Navalny participates in a rally to mark the fifth anniversary of opposition political leader Boris Nemtsov’s murder and to oppose versus proposed changes to the nation’s constitution, in Moscow, Russia February 29, 2020.
Shamil Zhumatov | Reuters
Secretary of State Antony Blinken condemned the Russian federal government on Tuesday after Kremlin critic Alexey Navalny was sentenced to more than 2 years in jail.
The opposition leader’s arrest last month has actually stimulated mass demonstrations throughout Russia, resulting in numerous his advocates getting tossed in prison.
“The United States is deeply concerned by Russia’s actions toward Aleksey Navalny. We reiterate our call for the Russian government to immediately and unconditionally release Mr. Navalny, as well as hundreds of other Russian citizens wrongfully detained in recent weeks for exercising their rights,” Blinken stated.
Navalny, a leading critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, was jailed for parole offenses on Jan. 17 upon his go back to Russia from Germany, where he had actually been dealt with for a nerve representative poisoning that happened last August.
He was implicated of stopping working to keep in contact with his parole officer throughout that time concerning a suspended sentence associated to 2014 scams charges. Navalny called the case politically inspired.
The opposition leader has actually implicated Putin of buying the poisoning with the nerve-agent Novichok, however the Kremlin has actually rejected any participation.
Last month, Blinken stated that the Biden administration is examining other Russia-associated problems consisting of the hacking of SolarWinds, reports of bounties positioned by Russia on American forces in Afghanistan, and prospective election disturbance and will identify its reaction based upon its findings.
–CNBC’s Holly Ellyatt added to this report.
