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The prison sentence against Kremlin critic Alexej Navalny, which was announced in Moscow on Tuesday, is causing outrage not only in Russia: The foreign ministers of Germany, the USA and Great Britain demanded the immediate release of the opposition member.

Immediately after the announcement of the verdict, supporters of President Vladimir Putin's adversary called for an impromptu demonstration via the online service Twitter.

The Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny had previously been sentenced to more than two years in a prison camp.

The competent court in the Russian capital decided that the 44-year-old had to serve a three-and-a-half-year suspended sentence in a penal colony, with previous house arrest being deducted from the time.

Federal Foreign Minister Heiko Maas called for Nawalny to be released via Twitter.

The SPD politician sharply criticized the approach of the Russian judiciary.

"The verdict against Alexej Navalny is a bitter blow to firmly established freedom rights and the rule of law in Russia," wrote the minister.

The European Court of Human Rights had already criticized the procedure as arbitrary in 2017.

"Alexej Navalny must be released immediately," said Maas.

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Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer also called the judgment “cynical”.

“First poison Navalny and then put him in jail for not fulfilling probation requirements while in a coma?

Pure cynicism, ”wrote the CDU politician on Twitter.

She provided her criticism with the hashtag "#FreeNavalny".

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The US and UK also called for the Kremlin critic to be released immediately.

Navalny must be released "immediately and unconditionally," said US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday.

The hundreds of demonstrators arrested in recent weeks should also be released.

"Judgment that targets a poisoning victim instead of those responsible"

The British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab also called for the immediate release of Navalny - and condemned Moscow's actions sharply: “Today's perverse judgment, which targets a poisoning victim instead of those responsible, shows that Russia is not complying with the most fundamental obligations of a responsible member the international community would be expected. "

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Navalny was arrested on January 17 immediately after his return to Russia.

He came from Germany, where he was treated for months after a poison attack suffered in Siberia in the summer.

The 44-year-old blamed the Kremlin for the attack with a neurotoxin from the Soviet era, but the Kremlin vehemently denied it.

The demonstrations for Navalny's release appear to have disturbed the Kremlin.

Navalny's brother Oleg, his confidante Lyubow Sobol and several other people from Navalny's environment were also placed under two-month house arrest.