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Bare-chested and wearing army pants to mimic summer holiday
shots of the real Russian president, protester Alexander
Lyubuschin donned a Putin face mask and sat in on a bench of a
sunny Geneva square, pretending to neck Vodka.
Asked whether he expected a good result from the summit set to
take place on Wednesday afternoon at a nearby lakeside villa,
the impersonator responded: "But of course. If not I will cut
off all the gas and oil."
On the bench beside him was a fake pistol and a mock-up bottle
of the nerve agent Novichok, which German doctors said was used
to poison Navalny last year in Siberia.
The Kremlin denies allegations it ordered the poisoning.
Nearby, a few dozen protesters shouted for Navalny's release
from a Russian jail where he is serving a 2-1/2 year sentence.
They chanted "Russia without Putin" next to a poster of Navalny
signing a heart -- a copy of a mural that appeared on a street
in central Geneva a few days ago.
A senior U.S. official said Biden's administration would bring
up human rights at the summit where nuclear arms and ransomware
are also on the agenda, but did not specify whether that
includes Navalny's case.
Geneva hosts the U.N.'s human rights council and is a hub for
activism. Navalny's daughter last week accepted a "moral
courage" award on behalf of her father at a virtual event
organised by the Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy.
Maria Knyazeva, a protestor, said she hoped Biden would raise
Navalny's case directly with Putin.
"I understand strategic issues have to be first but if Biden and
other Western leaders will not stand up for human rights - who
will?" she said.
(Additional reporting by Steve Holland; Writing by Emma Farge;
Editing by Sonya Hepinstall)
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