Russia has ordered diplomats from Germany, Poland and Sweden, who say they took part in the nationwide Navalny protests, to leave the country ‘shortly afterwards’ after declaring ‘persona non grata’. The Kremlin’s Foreign Ministry said on Friday that foreign officials had taken part in protests calling on the government to release opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
Tens of thousands of people across Russia protested the arrest of Navalny on January 23. Navalny has since been sentenced to two years and eight months in prison on charges deemed doubtful by international observers. The opposition leader was back in court on Friday and pleaded not guilty to charges of defamation of a Russian World War II veteran, which appeared in a video supporting the Kremlin. In the video, Navalny referred to people as ‘corrupt stooges’ and ‘traitors’.
Read it up AP