The Russian prison service has ordered opposition leader Alexei Navalny to return to Moscow on Tuesday morning or go to jail if he returns after the deadline, Reuters reports.
The state of affairs: Navalny, one of Russia’s most prominent critics of President Vladimir Putin, has been in Germany since he was flown there while recovering from an attempted poisoning.
- An investigation by the Bellingcat website this month revealed that Navalny was tracked by a chemical weapons team from the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) prior to his poisoning.
- Last week, it was revealed that Navalny had tricked one of the FSB agents accused of telling him how the botched operation was carried out during a phone call. The Kremlin has denied having any role in the poisoning and claims to have seen no evidence that Navalny was poisoned.
Details: The Federal Prison Service (FSIN) on Monday accused Navalny of violating the terms of a suspended prison sentence he has been serving since 2014 for a theft case he says was politically motivated.
- Navalny’s lawyer said there is no way he can return to Moscow until Tuesday and accused the FSIN of acting on orders from the Kremlin, Reuters said.
- Navalny has been arrested several times for his anti-government protests. His probation period ends on December 30.
Go deeper: Russian security officer tricked into revealing poisoning plot on Navalny