The Biden Administration is “deeply concerned” by Russian authorities’ decision to sentence Navalny to two years and eight months imprisonment.
Aleksey Navalny has been sentenced to two years and eight months imprisonment. His suspended sentence is now replaced with jail time.
“Like every Russian citizen, Mr. Navalny is entitled to the rights provided in the Russian constitution, and Russia has international obligations to respect equality before the law and the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly,” Secretary Blinken said, deeply concerned with the decision of Russian authorities to jail Navalny.
The US calls on the Russian government to “immediately and unconditionally release Mr. Navalny,” as well as the “hundreds of other Russian citizens wrongfully detained in recent weeks for exercising their rights, including the rights to freedom of expression and of peaceful assembly.”
Secretary Blinken reminded the public that The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) concluded that Mr. Navalny’s 2014 conviction, which is the grounds for the new sentence, was “unlawful and arbitrary” and “politically motivated.”
The Biden administration intends to hold Russia “accountable for failing to uphold the rights of its citizens.”