Kremlin dismisses calls to free Navalny

MOSCOW: The Kremlin on Tuesday dismissed Western demands to release top opposition politician Alexei Navalny and criticised his calls for mass demonstrations.

Navalny was arrested Sunday as he arrived in Russia from Germany for the first time since he was poisoned with the Novichok nerve agent in August and flown to Berlin in a coma. His dramatic arrest drew widespread Western condemnation, with the United States, the European Union, France and Canada all calling for his release.

"We cannot and are not going to take these statements into account," President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists. "This is absolutely a domestic affair and we will not allow anyone to interfere in it," he said.

Peskov added that the Kremlin was concerned by Navalny’s calls for his supporters to stage mass protests during a hearing on Monday in which he was jailed for 30 days. "These calls are troubling," Peskov said.