Swiss perspectives in 10 languages

Swiss concerned about arrest of Russian activist

Navalny and his wife at Moscow airport
Navalny and his wife waiting in line at the passport control in Moscow on Sunday. Shortly afterwards he was detained. Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved

The Swiss foreign ministry has expressed concern about the arrest of the Russian opposition politician, Alexei Navalny.

“The justice system has to be independent from politics and it has to respect human rights,” the foreign ministry told the Swiss news agency, Keystone-SDA, on Monday.

Legal procedures must not be used for political purposes and every human being is entitled to a fair treatment, the ministry added.

Unlike the United States and the European Union, Switzerland stopped short of calls to free Navalny.

In September, the Swiss government called on Russia to launch an independent inquiry into a poisoning attack allegedly carried out by a Russian intelligence unit. However, Moscow has denied any involvement.

A court in Moscow on Monday remanded Russia’s prominent opposition leader and anti-corruption activist in pre-trial detention for 30 days for violating the terms of a suspended jail sentence.

He was arrested by police on Sunday at a Moscow airport when he returned to Russia from Germany where he recovered from the poisoning attack in August.

News

Two Rothornbahn gondolas cross each other on Lenzerheide on Friday, April 3, 2009.

More

Swiss cable car activity rose in winter 2023-2024

This content was published on In the winter season up to April 2024, railway and cable car operators ferried 3% more visitors compared to the previous winter, and 5% more than the five-year average.

Read more: Swiss cable car activity rose in winter 2023-2024
flooding Rhine

More

Rhine flooding: Swiss to invest CHF1 billion with Austria

This content was published on As part of an international agreement with Austria, the Swiss government wants to pump CHF1 billion ($1.1 billion) into flood protection measures along the Rhine over the next three decades.

Read more: Rhine flooding: Swiss to invest CHF1 billion with Austria

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!

If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR