OHCHR Deeply Concerned By Navalny's Detention, Calls For His Release

GENEVA (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 18th January, 2021) The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on Monday expressed concern over the detention of Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny in Moscow and called for his immediate release.

On Sunday, Navalny returned from Germany, where he was treated for alleged poisoning. He was detained at a Moscow airport upon arrival over multiple violations of probation.

"#Russia: We are deeply troubled by the arrest of Aleksei Navalny, and call for his immediate release and for his due process rights to be respected in line with the rule of law. We reiterate our call for a thorough and impartial investigation into his poisoning," the OHCHR wrote on Twitter.

Czech Foreign Minister Tomas Petricek pledged earlier in the day to bring up Navalny's detention case at the EU Foreign Affairs Council. European Parliament President David Sassoli, who qualified the arrest as an offense to the international community, confirmed a readiness to invite Navalny to the European Parliament.

Earlier in the day, Russian Foreign Ministry Sergey Lavrov expressed his belief that Western calls for Navalny's release were aimed at shifting attention from the crisis of the liberal development pattern.

On August 20, Navalny fell ill on a domestic flight in Russia. He was initially treated in the Siberian city of Omsk, where the plane made an emergency landing. Two days later, when the doctors determined that he was fit for cross-border aerial transportation, Navalny was taken to the Berlin-based Charite hospital for further treatment. Germany claims that doctors had found evidence of poisoning with a nerve agent from the Novichok group in Navalny's body. Russia disputed the allegations, noting that its doctors had found no toxic substances while Navalny was treated in Omsk.