US President Joe Biden raised concerns about the treatment of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny in his first phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the White House said on Tuesday.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki earlier said that Biden would keep all options on the table as the US considers possible responses to Navalny's detention.
Navalny, an opposition politician and anti-corruption campaigner, was arrested on January 17 upon returning to Russia from Germany after spending five months recovering from nerve-agent poisoning, which he has blamed on the Kremlin.
'Unlawful' imprisonment
Navalny is currently serving a 30-day stint over alleged violations of the terms of a suspended sentence stemming from fraud charges in 2014.
He is due back in court in February, and could be sent to prison for more than three years. The European Court of Human Rights ruled in 2017 that the fraud case against Navalny was unlawful and arbitrary.
Biden's conversation with Putin comes as the Russian government considers its response to massive nationwide pro-Navalny protests in more than 100 Russian cities over the weekend. More than 3,700 people were arrested across Russia in police crackdowns.
The Biden administration has called on Putin to immediately release Navalny along with the protesters.
G7 calls for Russia to release protesters
Biden's comments came as the foreign ministers from the G7 group of nations, which includes the US and Germany, condemned Navalny's arrest as "politically motivated." They called on Russia to "adhere to national and international obligations" and release protesters who were "detained arbitrarily."
"It is deplorable that Navalny is being detained in relation to court decisions which the European Court of Human Rights determined in 2017 to be arbitrary and manifestly unreasonable," the statement said.
More protests ahead?
On Tuesday, one of Navalny's top allies, lawyer and politician Lyubov Sobol, said Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation and his team's regional offices would continue to operate despite ongoing criminal probes and the "arrests of our followers and allies."
Navalny aides on Tuesday also called for new protests in Moscow on Sunday outside the FSB security agency headquarters near Lubyanka Square and Staraya Square, near the presidential administration offices.
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Who is Alexei Navalny?
Face of Russia's opposition
The lawyer-turned-political campaigner has been among the most prominent figures of Russia's opposition to President Vladimir Putin. Navalny came to prominence in 2008, when his blog exposing malpractice in Russian politics and among the country's major state-owned companies came to public attention. Revelations published on his blog even led to resignations, a rarity in Russian politics.
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Who is Alexei Navalny?
Disputed parliamentary elections
In 2011 Navalny was arrested for the first time. He ended up spending 15 days in prison for his role at a rally outside the State Duma in Moscow. A recent parliamentary election victory for Putin's United Russia had been marred by instances of ballot stuffing, reported by demonstrators on social media. Upon his release, Navalny pledged to continue the protest movement.
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Who is Alexei Navalny?
Second jail term
After being reelected president in 2012, Putin ordered Russia's Investigative Committee to launch a criminal inquiry into Navalny's past. The following year the campaigner was charged and sentenced again, this time for five years, for alleged embezzlement in the city of Kirov. However, he was released the following day pending affirmation from a higher court. The sentence was later suspended.
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Who is Alexei Navalny?
Anti-Kremlin platform grows
Despite being embroiled in legal troubles, Navalny was allowed to run in the 2013 Moscow mayoral election. A second-place finish behind Putin ally Sergei Sobyanin was seen as an overwhelming success and galvanized the Russian opposition movement.
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Who is Alexei Navalny?
Navalny takes to social media
His anti-Kremlin rhetoric led Navalny to be banned from appearing on Russian state-owned television. That forced him to deliver his political message over social media and his blog. His talent for public speaking, punchy use of language and humorous mockery of Putin and his loyalists mobilized a legion of young followers.
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Who is Alexei Navalny?
Presidential ambitions
In December 2016, the opposition leader announced the formal start of his campaign to run for the Russian presidency in March 2018. However, repeated accusations of corruption, which his supporters say are politically motivated, ultimately barred him from running for public office.
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Who is Alexei Navalny?
Convicted of corruption
In 2016 the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Russia had violated Navalny's right to a fair trial in the Kirov case. Although Russia's Supreme Court overturned the five-year sentence, the verdict was sent back to the Kirov court. In 2017, this court again handed Navalny a suspended five-year sentence.
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Who is Alexei Navalny?
Moscow's biggest protests in 6 years
In February 2017, anti-corruption rallies across dozens of Russian cities led to the arrests of over 1,000 demonstrators, including Navalny. The protests, believed to have been the largest in the Russian capital since 2012, were spurred by a report published by Navalny linking Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev to a property empire valued at billions of euros. Navalny was released 15 days later.
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Who is Alexei Navalny?
Physically assaulted
Navalny was assaulted and hospitalized in April 2017 after being hit in the eye with a chemical green dye. The attack permanently damaged his right cornea. Navalny accused Russian authorities of stopping him from seeking medical treatment abroad due to the embezzlement conviction against him. He was eventually permitted by the Kremlin human rights council to travel to Spain for eye surgery.
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Who is Alexei Navalny?
Repeated arrests
In 2018, Navalny was jailed for 30 days. After his release in September, he faced another 20-day stint. In April 2019, the European Court of Human Rights ruled Russia had violated Navalny's rights by holding him under house arrest for most of 2014 during the Kirov embezzlement case.
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Who is Alexei Navalny?
Alleged poisoning
In July 2019, only weeks after being released from a 10-day jail sentence, Navalny was again jailed for 30 days for violating Russia's strict protest laws. The opposition leader accused Russia of poisoning him with an allergic agent while in jail.
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Who is Alexei Navalny?
Raids and frozen assets
Using YouTube and social media, Navalny had amassed a following of millions by late December 2019. Then police raided his Anti-Corruption Foundation headquarters (above), detaining him in the process. His staff said officials wanted to confiscate their tech equipment. Just a few months later, in March, Navalny reported that his bank accounts and those of his family members had been frozen.
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Who is Alexei Navalny?
A plane — and a coma
On August 20, Navalny's spokesperson announced the activist became violently ill during a flight from Siberia to Moscow. The plane made an emergency landing, and Navalny was rushed to a hospital in Russia's Omsk and later evacuated to Berlin's Charite clinic (above). Doctors said he was in a coma. Navalny's associates claimed he had been poisoned and pointed to previous attacks on the activist.
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Who is Alexei Navalny?
Back from the brink
Navalny was taken out of the coma less than three weeks later and was said to be responsive. Not long afterwards, he was posting on Instagram, saying he was slowly regaining strength following weeks of only being "technically alive." The German government said labs in France and Sweden both confirmed that Navalny had been poisoned with the Soviet-era nerve agent Novichok.
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Who is Alexei Navalny?
A smoking gun?
Months later, Navalny released the recording of a phone call he made to a man he said was a member of Russia's Federal Security Service, whose headquarters is pictured above. The alleged agent said he was not directly involved in poisoning Navalny, but deeply involved with efforts to clean up any traces of Novichok. Moscow dismissed the recording as fake.
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Who is Alexei Navalny?
Return, arrest, and trial
Navalny had promised to return to Russia and he did so, despite warnings that he would be arrested. He was taken into police custody shortly after arriving in Moscow. The dissident, seen here at a passport control point, had said he was "not afraid of anything." He was sentenced to 30 days in prison at a swiftly convened trial the following day.
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Who is Alexei Navalny?
Conviction and sentencing
Navalny was ordered to spend two years and eight months in a penal colony for violating terms of his probation while recovering in Germany from his poisoning. He dismissed the proceedings an attempt by the Kremlin to scare Russians into submission.
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Who is Alexei Navalny?
Ruling sparks unrest in Russia
Navalny supporters took to the streets soon after the prison sentence was announced. Navalny's aides called for a rally in Moscow's Manezhnaya Square, which was blocked off by riot police.
Author: David Martin
wmr/aw (AP, Reuters, AFP)
Editor's note: The opening sentence of this article initially concluded with the words "Russian President Alexei Navalny," rather than Vladimir Putin. We apologize for the error, which was rapidly rectified.
