France’s Macron demands Navalny’s immediate release

French President Emmanuel Macron demanded on Tuesday the immediate release of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, who has been ordered to jail for more than two years.

“Alexei Navalny’s conviction is unacceptable,” the French leader wrote on Twitter, joining a chorus of Western outrage.

“Political disagreement is never a crime. We call for his immediate release. Respect for human rights and democratic freedom are non-negotiable.”

The poisoning and subsequent imprisonment of Navalny have largely ended Macron’s attempts to engineer warmer ties with Russia under President Vladimir Putin.

On Monday, France urged Germany to scrap a major gas pipeline project with Russia in protest over Navalny’s detention, but the plea fell on deaf ears in Berlin.