Kremlin says European court's call to free Navalny is unacceptable meddling

[February 18, 2021]    MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Kremlin said on Thursday that a call by the European Court of Human Rights for Russia to free jailed opposition politician Alexei Navalny amounted to meddling in its internal affairs and that Moscow viewed that as unacceptable.

Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, who is accused of slandering a Russian World War Two veteran, is seen inside a defendant dock during a court hearing in Moscow, Russia, Russia February 16, 2021, in this still image taken from video. Press Service of Babushkinsky District Court of Moscow/Handout via REUTERS

The Strasbourg-based court ruled on Wednesday that Russia should immediately free Navalny, whose arrest and jailing sparked anti-Kremlin protests in cities across Russia.

(Reporting by Anastasia Lyrchikova and Maxim Rodionov; writing by Tom Balmforth; editing by Gareth Jones)

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