The US State Department said on Friday that the international community would hold Russia accountable for “what happens to Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny “in their custody.”
“We have informed the Russian government that they are responsible for what happens to Mr. Navalny in their custody and that they will be held accountable by the international community,” a statement from a State Department spokesman said.
On Monday, Navalny's press secretary Kira Yarmysh posted on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, that they had not heard from the prisoner in the previous six days. Yarmysh also said he did not appear in court that day.
“This is already the sixth day that we do not know where Alexey is or what is happening to him,” Yarmysh said.
The White House has expressed concern about the situation.
“He should be released immediately. He should not have been detained in the first place,” White House national security spokesman John Kirby told reporters. “We will work with our embassy in Moscow to see how much more we can find out.”
In its statement, the State Department spokesperson also said that the US “strongly condemns Russia's ongoing malicious attacks on Navalny, Vladimir Kara-Murza and the more than 600 other political prisoners that Russia continues to unjustly imprison.”
“We will continue to closely monitor their cases and call for the release of all those unjustly detained,” the spokesman said.
In 2021, Navalny was sentenced to nine years in prison for fraud and contempt of court. This year he was sentenced to an additional 19 years in prison on extremism charges.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.