France has proposed to introduce anti-Russian sanctions in connection with the case of Alexei Navalny.
This was stated by the head of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) Jean-Yves Le Drian. “As for the sanctions, they need to be made really effective. And discussions on this topic will be held tomorrow at the European Council, ”he said on the air of the France Inter radio station, implying a meeting of the foreign ministers of the EU countries, at which the participants will also discuss the arrest of a Russian. This was reported by RIA Novosti.
On the afternoon of January 23, uncoordinated actions in support of blogger Alexei Navalny were held in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and other cities of Russia.
Baltic states demanded to release protesters
The foreign ministers of the Baltic states demanded the release of the protesters in support of the Russian opposition leader A. Navalny. It is reported by Delfi.
The ministers also called on the European Union (EU) to impose sanctions on Russian officials responsible for dispersing the protesters. “We condemn the detention of participants in peaceful protests in Russia. These people must be released immediately. All of us in the EU must show determination and approve sanctions against the Russian officials who are responsible for the arrests, ”the Baltic ministers said in a joint statement.
Let us remind you that 1,500 people were detained during the protest actions.
The State Department condemned the actions of the Russian security officials
The US condemns the use of force by Russian law enforcement officers against participants in uncoordinated protests and media representatives. State Department spokesman Ned Price said this.
He also called on the Russian authorities to release all those detained for “exercising their universal rights.” The US Embassy added that they “support the right of all people to peaceful protests, freedom of expression”, and the measures of the Russian authorities are allegedly “aimed at suppressing these rights.”
As NEWS.ru reported, the US Embassy posted a message on its website the day before, mentioning the places and times of unauthorized actions in different cities of Russia on January 23. The diplomatic service warned American citizens against attending these events.
Earlier, the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, said that the publications of the US Embassy about illegal rallies in Russia are interference in the internal affairs of another country.
Peskov estimated the number of participants in the action
Not so many citizens took part in the unauthorized actions that took place on Saturday, January 23rd. The organizers of the protests are trying to rock the situation, said presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov. Peskov emphasized that he respects all points of view, but strongly opposes participation in uncoordinated actions. According to him, there can be no other assessment, since this is a violation of the law.
A Kremlin spokesman noted that many people supported the amendments to the Constitution. If you compare it with how many people went to the protests, “you will understand how few people are, although they are also citizens of Russia.”
Navalny was sentenced to three years of probation in the Yves Rocher case involving the theft of over 30 million rubles in 2014. The time of punishment ended on December 30, 2020. Before its expiration, Navalny had to report to the police twice a month. The Federal Penitentiary Service asked to replace Navalny’s suspended sentence with a real one due to the fact that the blogger had no objective reasons to miss his appearance in law enforcement agencies.
The Charite clinic announced the completion of the patient’s treatment in September, but he remained in Germany. In this regard, Navalny was put on the wanted list.
It is clarified that annually the decision to replace the suspended sentence with a real one is made in relation to about 15 thousand Russian citizens.
