Russian prosecutors seek Navalny jail term, Kremlin tells U.S. to back off
SMA NEWS – MOSCOW
Russian state prosecutors said they would ask a court on Tuesday to jail opposition politician Alexei Navalny for up to three and a half years, and the Kremlin said it would not listen to U.S. complaints about his case.
Riot police detained more than 5,300 people who took part in protests across Russia on Sunday calling for the release of Navalny, a prominent critic of President Vladimir Putin who was detained last month on his return from Germany.
The political unrest is a headache for Putin, 68, who has dominated Russian politics for over two decades. The case has set off new talk of Western sanctions on Russia and raised tension as U.S. President Joe Biden launches his administration.
Sunday’s rallies prompted U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to condemn what he said was the persistent use of harsh tactics against peaceful protesters and journalists, and to call for Navalny’s release.
The Kremlin said Moscow would ignore Blinken’s comments about what it said were illegal protests inside Russia and warned against Washington imposing any new sanctions.
“…We are not prepared to accept or heed American statements about this,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
A court on Tuesday is set to consider a request from Moscow’s prison service to hand Navalny a jail term of up to three and a half years for alleged parole violations which he calls trumped up.
The Prosecutor General’s office said on Monday that the request was legal and justified, and that state prosecutors would ask a court to grant the prison service’s request.
