Russia’s prison service says it has an order to detain Alexei Navalny, a statement from an opposition politician a few days ago Is back in Russia After recovering abroad from suspected FSB poisoning.
Navalny will face jail time when he disembarks from a plane in Moscow on Sunday. Authorities say he will be taken into custody and questioned for failing to appear for parole reviews In August he was attacked by a Novichok-style poison.
The assassination attempt was fought for his life before the opposition leader was transferred to a Siberian hospital Germany For treatment.
While there, He participated in the Belling Gate trial It found an FSB winning team that shadowed him around Russia Confessed confession over the phone From one of the men who took part in the operation.
These revelations were very embarrassing to the Kremlin. President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, Calling the report a “falsification” and accusing Navalny of having the support of Western intelligence agencies.
Russian government agencies have since pressed for Navalny to be deported, opening a new criminal case against him and threatening to reconsider an aptitude test since he was accused in 2014 of being politically motivated.
However, Navalny said he planned to return to Russia this week. “The question of whether or not to come back has never been before me,” he wrote in an online post. He invited his supporters to meet him at the airport, which could provoke a protest if he was taken into custody.
On Thursday, the government said it would arrest the opposition leader for the first time, and Navalny confirmed almost a confrontation when he arrived at Moscow’s Vunukovo airport on a Bobeta flight from Berlin scheduled to land at 7:20 pm local time.
Prison officials said: [parole] Violator Nalni will have to wait until the court rules to replace his suspended sentence with the actual sentence, ”he told the media.
These comments are the first confirmation that Navalny has been declared a fugitive “in order to take steps to detain him as soon as his whereabouts are established”. This report increases the chances of being arrested as soon as Navalny arrives.
Russian officials say the politician should be detained because he missed parole trials in 2014, where he was convicted of fraud and money laundering.
The probation period for Navalny’s suspended sentence officially ended on December 30, but authorities argued that he had violated the terms of his parole by failing to appear after being released from Charita Hospital in Berlin.
“Being subjected to rehabilitation procedures is not a reason for not being truly registered,” Navalny said of his continued stay in Germany after being released from Charita Hospital in September.
Nalny has become one of the most important opposition figures in the country, both in leading protests against Putin and in supporting corruption investigations among some of the Kremlin leader’s close allies.
Russia has refused to launch a criminal investigation into Navalny’s poison, saying there is no evidence that any of the attacks took place.
In a letter released on Thursday, Russia’s investigative team also refused to open a criminal case against Navalny. Responding to the opposition leader’s request, Russian officials wrote: “There is no conclusive evidence in the circumstances as to the circumstances under which the FSB members of Russia are indicating the crime.”
