Russian Ambassador in Prague Summonned to Czech Foreign Ministry Over Navalny Verdict

PRAGUE (Sputnik) - Russian Ambassador in Prague Alexander Zmeevsky was summoned to the Czech Foreign Ministry on Wednesday, where Czech Deputy Foreign Minister Ales Chmelar protested against the court's ruling in case of opposition figure Alexey Navalny, the Czech Foreign Ministry said.

"The Czech Foreign Ministry invited Russian Ambassador Alexander Zmeevsky. Deputy Minister Ales Chmelar protested against the court ruling on Alexey Navalny, which we consider politically motivated, as well as against the brutal actions of the police against peaceful demonstrators. We call on Russia for the immediate release of Navalny", the statement says.

The Simonovsky Court of Moscow on Tuesday ruled to cancel Navalny's suspended sentence in the Yves Rocher case and replace it with 3.5 years in a general regime prison.

Navalny was arrested last month for violating probation conditions for an earlier embezzlement conviction. He was detained upon returning to Russia from Germany where he had received medical treatment following a suspected poisoning in Siberia, evidence for which the German health experts allegedly found in his body, namely, traces of a nerve agent from the Novichok group. Moscow has consistently rejected the findings and requested for the evidence to be shared with it.