Brussels - Capitals: Europe and the Arabs
The United States, the European Union and the United Nations have decried the latest conviction by the Russian judiciary of Alexei Navalny, calling it a show trial and calling for the prisoner's immediate release.
“This arbitrary ruling is a response to his courage in criticizing the Kremlin regime,” European Council President Charles Michel wrote on his former Twitter post, after a “rigged trial.” "The European Union condemns in the strongest terms his arrest, trial and conviction for political motives," Josep Borrell, the European Union's head of diplomacy, said in a statement.
The United Nations has also called for Navalny's "immediate release". "This ruling raises new concerns about judicial intimidation and the use of legal systems for political purposes in Russia," High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said in a press statement.
German Foreign Minister Analina Berbock described the new conviction as a "flagrant injustice". On X, she wrote: "Putin fears nothing more than those who oppose war and corruption and defend democracy, even from a prison cell. He will not silence critical voices."
Paris also criticized Navalny's imprisonment "in the strongest possible terms". "We again call on the Russian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Mr. Navalny, along with all political prisoners," said a spokeswoman for the French Foreign Ministry.
The United States also expressed its condemnation of the decision, speaking of "an incorrect result of an incorrect trial." "These are baseless charges of alleged extremism," a White House spokesman said.
A Russian court sentenced the 47-year-old to an additional 19 years in prison for "extremism". The defector is already serving a nine-year prison sentence for "fraud". Navalny, who narrowly escaped poisoning in 2020, dismisses all lawsuits against him as politically motivated because he is a leading critic of Vladimir Putin's regime.