The activist’s appearance came shortly before Josep Borrell, the EU’s foreign policy chief, met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow.
His decision to continue the trip to Russia as planned – despite the protests and continued imprisonment of Russia’s most prominent opposition figure – without conditions, angered critics of the EU’s relationship with Russia.
“If the EU is serious about having a dialogue with Russia and not just with a group of thugs around Putin, Borrell would have to make the meeting with Navalny a condition,” said Vladimir Kara-Murza, a Russian opposition figure. politician who has been poisoned twice in the last five years.
Borrell, along with Lavrov, said he had called on Russia to release Navalny, who was sentenced to two years and eight months in prison, and to launch an investigation into his poisoning.
“While fully respecting Russian sovereignty, and its own responsibility for complying with its international obligations, the European Union believes that issues related to the rule of law, human rights, civil society and political freedom central to a common future, both for the European Union and Russia, ”Borrell said.
He added that relations between the European Union and Russia in recent years had been “marked by fundamental differences and a lack of confidence.”
Lavrov, for his part, criticized the sanctions against Moscow, saying that relations between the EU and Russia ‘had gone through difficult times due to unilateral and illegal restrictions imposed by the EU under false pretenses.’
He said it was important for Russia and the EU to “show the intention to support channels of dialogue, especially on issues where we have differing views.” And he warned that “the further deterioration of relations was filled with negative consequences.”
Claims of defamation
Navalny’s defamation trial was set to resume on January 20, but was postponed after he was arrested at the airport on January 17, moments after returning from Moscow to Germany.
At the start of the trial, Navalny asked the court for half an hour to get acquainted with the case and consult with his lawyers. The court said he had been getting to know the case since August, to which Navalny replied, “I had a lot of other things to do in August.”
Navalny continued to mock the legal process and demanded that the veteran be allowed to take off his mask and lie down in his 90s. The veteran appeared at the trial via a video link from his apartment.
Asked by the prosecutor if he understood the charges, Navalny replied “No, I know nothing about Artemenko, except that his relatives are selling him.”
Navalny is accused of violating the Russian defamation law in his comments on social media last June about the RT video, which also features prominent Russian cultural and sports figures. The changes to the constitution, which were supported in the July 1 referendum, paved the way for Putin, who has ruled for two decades, to remain president until 2036.
In December, the penalty for libel was changed to include possible jail time. But at the time of the alleged offense, those convicted could only be fined up to one million rubles (about $ 13,300) or ordered to perform community service.
On Friday, Navalny accused Russian courts of being “corrupt” and claimed that the case against him was not brought by investigators but by “the PR people of Russia Today (RT)”. ‘
“Cases are always fabricated against me, but the authorities have problems when cases are brought before the court,” he said. “It’s clear to everyone there that the truth is on my side.”
Navalny was sentenced to prison on Tuesday for failing to report to parole officers after his poisoning last summer, thus violating the terms of a suspended sentence for embezzlement in a 2014 case. The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that the case is politically motivated.
Mary Ilyushina of CNN reported from Moscow and Laurs Smith-Spark wrote from London. Schams Elwazer and James Frater contributed to this report.