The international community denounces the arrest of Navalny

Following the arrest of Alexei Navalny, the international community has condemned what happened and demanded the immediate release of the Kremlin opposition leader. The United States, the European Union and several organisations have joined this demand. The last to make it official was the UN.

Meanwhile, the Russian justice system has imposed 30 days of preventive detention on the Russian opponent. "They have imposed 30 days of pre-trial detention on me, until 15 February 2021," wrote Navalny on his Twitter account.

The office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, has urged the Russian authorities to respect "due process" in this case, "in line with the rule of law" via Twitter.

Joe Biden's national security advisor, Jake Sullivan, was also emphatic on this social network: "The perpetrators of the outrageous attack on his life must be held accountable. The Kremlin's attacks on Navalny are not only a violation of human rights, but an affront to the Russian people who want their voices to be heard. Mike Pompeo, the outgoing US Secretary of State, added that he is "the latest in a series of attempts to silence him and other opposition figures".

High officials from the European Union (EU) have also demonstrated. The EU's High Representative for Foreign Policy, Josep Borrell, warned in a tweet that "the politicisation of justice is unacceptable". Charles Michel, President of the European Council, called via Twitter for "the Russian authorities to release him immediately". David Sassoli and Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Parliament and President of the European Commission respectively, also condemned the arrest.

However, it is the Eastern European and Baltic countries that are most critical of Moscow. Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia have issued a joint statement calling for the EU to act "swiftly" if Navalny is not released. All three have called for sanctions to be imposed following confirmation of the arrest.

The foreign ministers of Germany, Great Britain, France and Italy had previously called for Navalny's release, and the Czech foreign minister, Tomas Petricek, had said he wanted the bloc to discuss possible sanctions.

The experts point out that the possible target of any new sanctions would be Nord Stream 2, a 9.5 billion euro project to build a gas pipeline from Russia to Germany.

The EU has already imposed sanctions on several high-ranking officials close to the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, after laboratories in Germany, France and Sweden determined that the opposition leader had been poisoned with a chemical nerve agent developed by the Soviets known as Novichok.

"I feel great," responded Navalny to a traveler who asked him about his condition during the flight. "This is my best moment in the last five months". Until yesterday, the Russian opposition leader was in Berlin, where he had overcome his convalescence after being poisoned.

Last month, Navalny posted on Twitter a recording of a phone call with a member of the Federal Security Service (FSB), the organisation allegedly responsible for the poisoning, in which he acknowledged the facts.

Navalny was in a coma, and during the process it was feared for his life. However, after the recovery period in the Teutonic capital, it was clear to him that he should return to Russia. And so he did. "I am not afraid of anything and I urge you not to be afraid of anything," Navalny said as soon as he landed.

Minutes later, Navalny was arrested by four masked border police officers. The Russian Federal Prison Service later justified his arrest by claiming that Navalny "has a suspended sentence pending and has been wanted for numerous probation offences since 29 December 2020". And, for the time being, he has been held in custody for 30 days.

During his stay in Germany, the Russian authorities had warned him that breaking the rules could lead to his being sent back to prison. But the campaign of legal harassment does not stop there; the Russian justice system has opened a new case against him for embezzlement. 

After the arrest, he was taken to the premises of the department no 2 of the Ministry of Interior in Khimki, a satellite city of Moscow and close to the international airport of Sheremetyevo where he landed. The court hearing may decide to keep him in custody until another court decides whether he will be sentenced to 3 and a half years of imprisonment.

In the vicinity of the police headquarters, some 200 supporters of Navalny gathered in temperatures of minus 18 degrees to demand his release, according to Reuters sources on the ground.

Experts say that the arrest was also a desperate attempt by the Kremlin to avoid a mass bath of the opposition leader. His followers were waiting for him at Vnukovo airport, where he was to land and where there were some clashes between the demonstrators and the police. Because of the rallies, the authorities diverted the plane to Sheremetyevo.

Navalny was threatened, however, the warning messages did not condition his decision to do so: "I will come back and continue my work. No other possibility has been or is being considered," the opposition leader said last October.

Putin's repression has intensified in recent months. Many people have been persecuted and erased from the map by the Kremlin, even with the same strategy of poisoning. And it is a serious threat to Putin Navalny, who is now his main political enemy and a source of instability in the country.

Navalny has proved unwilling to add to the list of Russian opponents in exile. Despite his declarations, he is aware that his return would pose serious dangers. However, he also knows that the only way to maintain influence is to be in the front line, and this requires his presence in the country.