US ‘STRONGLY CONDEMNS’ ARREST OF KREMLIN CRITIC NAVALNY: POMPEO

Mon 18 January 2021:

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Sunday the US “strongly condemns” the arrest of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, who was detained when returning to Russia for the first time since his poisoning last summer.

“The US strongly condemns Russia’s decision to arrest Aleksey Navalny,” Pompeo said in astatement.

“We note with grave concern that his detention is the latest in a series of attempts to silence Navalny and other opposition figures and independent voices who are critical of Russian authorities.”

WATCH | #Kremlin critic #AlexeiNavalny was detained by Russian police at passport control late on Sunday after flying back to #Russia from #Germany . #Navalny pic.twitter.com/hcqNT7Raef

— INDEPENDENT PRESS (@IpIndependent) January 17, 2021

WATCH | #Kremlin critic #AlexeiNavalny was detained by #Russian police at passport control. These images of Navalny’s wife wiping his tears as they say goodbye. pic.twitter.com/WKbCtDLbTW

— INDEPENDENT PRESS (@IpIndependent) January 17, 2021

On Sunday Russia’s prison service said opposition leader Alexei Navalny was detained at a Moscow airport after returning from Germany on Sunday.

The prison service said he was detained for multiple violations of parole and terms of a suspended prison sentence and would be held in custody until a court makes a decision in his case.

Navalny had spent the previous five months in Germany recovering from a nerve agent attack that he blamed on the Kremlin, and the prison service earlier said that his being outside the country violated terms of a 2014 suspended sentence for embezzlement.

Russia’s prison service last week issued a warrant for his arrest, saying he had violated the terms of suspended sentence he received on a 2014 conviction for embezzlement. The prison service has asked a Moscow court to turn Navalny’s 3 1/2-year suspended sentence into a real one.

After boarding the Moscow flight in Berlin on Sunday, Navalny said of the prospect of arrest: “It’s impossible; I’m an innocent man.”