Jakarta: The UN human rights office, OHCHR, expressed dismay on Wednesday over the sentencing of Russian opposition politician and activist Aleksei Navalny.
The UN agency also urged the authorities to release scores of his supporters arrested during rallies protesting his detention.
"We are deeply dismayed by the sentencing of Russian opposition figure Aleksei Navalny by a court in Moscow yesterday to imprisonment for allegedly violating the conditions of a 2014 suspended sentence in an embezzlement case that the European Court of Human Rights had in 2017, already unanimously found to be arbitrary, unfair and manifestly unreasonable," OHCHR Spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said in a statement.
Navalny was arrested in Moscow on Sunday after returning from Germany, where he had been recovering after allegedly being poisoned with a Cold War-era nerve agent last August.
Thousands of protestors across Russia have been demonstrating in recent weeks in protests in support of Navalny.
"We urge the authorities in Russia to immediately release all those detained for exercising their right to freedom of peaceful assembly and expression yesterday and over the past few weeks of protests across the country”, said Shamdasani.
"There are reports that the number of people arrested yesterday was as high as 1,400. The Government must ensure that demonstrations are handled in line with its obligations under international human rights law," the spokesperson stated.
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