Kremlin: Navalny arrest Russia’s internal affair

By Dmitri Chirciu

MOSCOW (AA) – Russia said Tuesday the arrest of opposition leader Alexey Navalny is its internal affair.

Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia will not take criticism from the West into account but is interested in good relations with other countries.

Peskov also said the Navalny case does not require President Vladimir Putin’s special attention as all Russian citizens' rights are guaranteed by law.

A Russian court ruled Monday that Navalny will be kept in custody until Feb. 15, less than 24 hours after his return to the country.

Navalny, who received treatment in Germany after alleged poisoning, was arrested in the capital Moscow upon his return Sunday evening. He was held at a police station in the city of Khimki.

Navalny, 44, a fierce critic of Putin, fell sick last August on a flight to Moscow. After an emergency landing in the Siberian city of Omsk, he spent two days in a Russian hospital before being sent to Berlin for treatment.

After tests in several laboratories, German officials said Navalny was poisoned with the nerve agent Novichok, which was also used according to the UK government in a 2018 attack on former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in the British town of Salisbury.

Russian authorities deny any involvement in the case and contend that chemical weapons have neither been developed nor produced by Russia since the last chemical round was destroyed in 2017, as verified and certified by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.

*Writing and contribution by Busra Nur Bilgic Cakmak in Ankara