On 2 February, a court in Russia ruled to imprison prominent anti-corruption and opposition activist Aleksei Navalny for two years and eight months for “violation of probation terms”. Tens of thousands join regular protests in his support, and thousands have been arbitrarily detained and subjected to ill-treatment. Aleksei Navalny must be freed immediately and unconditionally.
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Dear President Putin,
I am writing to you concerning politician and anti-corruption activist Aleksei Navalny who was arrested on 17 January 2021 and sent to prison for two years and eight months for purported “violation of [his] probation terms”.
Aleksei Navalny has been arbitrarily deprived of his liberty. His imprisonment for this purported “violation” is politically motivated and seeks to silence him and end his peaceful activism. It relates to a past conviction which the European Court of Human Rights has found to be “arbitrary and manifestly unreasonable” and intended to “suppress political pluralism”. As you are aware, the “violation” consisted in Aleksei Navalny’s failure to report regularly to a probation officer, as part of his non-custodial sentence, which he could not do while he was receiving life-saving treatment abroad following his poisoning in Russia.
Aleksei Navalny is a prominent and vocal government critic. Like many others in Russia, he has been arbitrarily deprived of his liberty for his peaceful political activism and for exercising his right to freedom of expression. He is a prisoner of conscience and must be released immediately and unconditionally.
I urge you to use your authority to take necessary steps to ensure Aleksei Navalny’s immediate and unconditional release, and an end to reprisals against, and persecution of, all other government critics.
Yours sincerely,
[YOUR NAME]
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