France called on Monday night for the "quick release" of the thousand protesters arrested this weekend in Moscow and the number one opponent of President Vladimir Putin, Alexei Navalny, expressing "his deep concern at these recent developments."
"Deep concern"
"A large number of arrests and detentions have followed the peaceful demonstrations of recent days in Moscow." The state of health of Alexei Navalny, incarcerated since July 23, has also brutally deteriorated. quick release and expresses its deep concern at these recent developments, "said the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement.
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"Russia is a member of the Council of Europe and the OSCE, and must, like all their member states, respect the commitments it has made in this context, in particular as regards freedom of opinion, of expression, demonstration and participation in free elections, "the statement said. "France attaches great importance to respect for the rule of law, which is an integral part of its political dialogue with Russia, as the exchanges between the two presidents in Osaka have shown," the statement concluded.
1,400 arrests on Saturday
Alexei Navalny, hospitalized Sunday from his prison cell, seems according to his personal doctor to have been the victim of a "toxic agent". He was sent back to jail on Wednesday, just days before Saturday's opposition rally for free elections, which resulted in nearly 1,400 arrests in Moscow, according to an NGO monitoring protests. The police reported 1,074 arrests "for various offenses".
Russian opposition denounces the rejection of independent candidatures for the local elections of 8 September. Saturday's demonstration in front of the Moscow City Hall came after a rally that gathered 22,000 people last Sunday, something that has not been seen since the 2012 protests.