Putin critic Navalny will be arrested 'immediately' upon returning to Russia: Official

Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny on January 14 was warned by Russia's Federal Prison Service (FSIN) that he will be arrested immediately if he returned to his home country Russia. President Vladimir Putin's 44-year-old political rival informed that he was planning to return to Russia on 17 January, months after his recovery in Germany after he was poisoned with the nerve agent Novichok in August 2020. Navalny was aboard a domestic Russian flight and was poisoned on the course of his journey from Siberia to Moscow. According to the sources of Moscow times, Russia's prison service told the state press that it will be 'obliged' to detain Navalny who is due to return to Moscow from Germany this Sunday. 

In a statement to the press, Navalny said, Russia is his country and Moscow his city that he misses. And therrefore, he planned to return to Russia. "There was never any question of 'returning or not' for me. Simply because I didn't leave. I wound up in Germany, having arrived in a resuscitation box, for one reason: they tried to kill me. I survived," Navalny wrote in an Instagram post. However, the Russian authorities warned that upon entry in Russia the Kremilin critic wil face detention and the police will be "obliged to take all actions to detain". The fraud charges, however, were ruled unlawful by the European Court of Human Rights. 

Read: Russia Prison Authorities Threaten Kremlin Critic Navalny To Return Back Or Face Jail

Read: Russia's Prison Service Tells Navalny To Appear Or Face Jail

FSIN asks Navalny to 'come home'

According to a statement issued by FSIN, Navalny was supposed to report to them at least twice a month as part of his probation period that ended on Dec. 29 last year. He, however, did not report for registration on six occasions, and each violation led to official warnings. The FSIN asserted that Navalny's suspended sentence was now replaced with real incarceration. The federal prison service urged Putin's rival to "come home". 

Earlier, Moscow  launched a probe against Navalny for ‘fraud’, alleging that his Anti-Corruption firm FBK used more than 356 million rubles ($4.8 million) charity funds for personal use, including paying expenses from a holiday overseas. Russia’s Investigative Committee, separately, also commenced an investigation against the former for defamation of a Moscow district court judge, according to sources of Russian news agency TASS. Navalny now faced a criminal case against charges of embezzlement of 356 million rubles collected from nonprofit organizations. 

Read: Russia Launches Criminal Investigation Against Alexei Navalny's Ally, Lyubov Sobol

Read: Putin's Chef Sues Navalny, His Ally For Defamation Citing 'moral Injury' To Business