{"id":9318,"date":"2021-01-16T20:30:10","date_gmt":"2021-01-16T20:30:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiofree.org\/?p=150991"},"modified":"2021-01-16T20:30:10","modified_gmt":"2021-01-16T20:30:10","slug":"germany-hands-over-navalny-interview-transcripts-to-russia-demands-criminal-probe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2021\/01\/16\/germany-hands-over-navalny-interview-transcripts-to-russia-demands-criminal-probe\/","title":{"rendered":"Germany Hands Over Navalny Interview Transcripts To Russia, Demands Criminal Probe"},"content":{"rendered":"
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MOSCOW — Germany has sent to Russia the transcripts of interviews its authorities conducted with Aleksei Navalny, and demanded that Moscow carry out a full investigation into the poisoning of the Russian opposition politician.<\/p>\n

The move on January 16 came a day ahead of Navalny\u2019s planned return to Moscow following several months in Germany, where he was sent for treatment following his August 2020 near-fatal poisoning that he has blamed on Russian authorities.<\/p>\n

The Kremlin critic has said that he will return to Russia despite having received a notice that the country’s Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN) would seek his arrest, setting the stage for a potentially dramatic new showdown between the Kremlin and Navalny, one of President Vladimir Putin’s most outspoken foes.<\/p>\n

Late last month, FSIN demanded Navalny return immediately from Germany or face jail in Russia for violating the terms of a suspended prison sentence relating to a 2014 fraud conviction and for evading criminal inspectors.<\/p>\n

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According to court documents, he could face a jail sentence of as much as 3 1\/2 years.<\/p>\n

The European Court of Human Rights ruled in October 2017 that the Russian courts violated Navalny’s right to a fair trial in the case.<\/p>\n

Navalny has faced numerous arrests and jail terms as he has challenged Putin’s rule over the past several years, mainly by organizing and leading protest events.<\/p>\n

The Kremlin critic in August fell seriously ill during a flight from the Siberian city of Tomsk to the Russian capital. He was initially treated at a hospital in Omsk before being taken by air to Berlin.<\/p>\n

Several laboratories in Western countries, including Germany, have determined that Navalny was poisoned by Novichok, a military substance developed in Soviet-era Russia.<\/p>\n

Moscow denies any involvement and, in September 2020, said it needed more information, including clinical samples, to carry out an investigation into the poisoning.<\/p>\n

The German Justice Ministry said that with the handing over of information requested by Moscow — including blood and tissue samples — the Russian government now has all the information it needs to carry out a criminal investigation.<\/p>\n

A ministry spokesman said Berlin expects that “the Russian government will now immediately take all necessary steps to clarify the crime against Mr. Navalny.”<\/p>\n

“This crime must be solved in Russia. This requires investigations commensurate with the seriousness of this crime,” the spokesman added.<\/p>\n

With reporting by Reuters, dpa, and AFP<\/h6>\n<\/div>\n\n

This post was originally published on Radio Free<\/a>. <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MOSCOW \u2014 Germany has sent to Russia the transcripts of interviews its authorities conducted with Aleksei Navalny, and demanded that Moscow carry out a full investigation into the\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,23,24],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9318"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9318"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9318\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9319,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9318\/revisions\/9319"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9318"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9318"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9318"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}