CNN: The US has called on Russia to release Navalny immediately

A Moscow court sentenced Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny to more than two and a half years in prison on Tuesday, sparked protests across the country. The verdict closed a hot hearing, as Kremlin critics were being cured of poisoning that violated the terms of their parole and accused President Vladimir Putin of being “Putin’s poison.” Navalny was arrested for the first time two weeks ago on his way back from Moscow to Berlin, where he spent several months healing his poisonings with his nervous agent Novicho – an attack he blames on Russian security services and Putin himself. The court ruled on Tuesday that Navalny was in Germany, violating the terms of the probation in a 2014 case in which he suspended his three-and-a-half-year sentence. This suspended sentence will be replaced by a prison sentence. The judge took into account the 11 months Navalny had already spent in house arrest as part of the decision. He will appeal the verdict, according to lawyer Olga Mikhailova. Speaking outside the courtroom after the sentencing, Navalny said he took the verdict “as boldly as usual.” The verdict caused a quick outcry abroad. U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blink has called on the Russian government to release Navalny “immediately and unconditionally.” Similar statements were made by the United Kingdom, Germany, France and others. It also sparked outrage among supporters of Navalny who took to the streets in large crowds on Tuesday night. In central Moscow, protesters calling for release clashed with a show of force by authorities, hundreds of riot police combed the streets around the courthouse and forced individuals to wait for buses. More than 1,000 people have been arrested across Russia, the independent control body OVD-Info reported. Navalny’s team later sent a message to Telegram thanking the fans and asking them to go home. “Putin did not want to kill Alexey Navalny – so he decided to go to prison for 2 years and 8 months. We will never accept a government that kills opponents and imprisons innocent people,” it read. “We’re definitely going to take to the streets of the city. For now, all you have to do is get close to a busy subway station.” #ConnectTheWorld #CNNInternational #New.

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