Amnesty International withdraws Russian opposition Navalni from 'prisoner of conscience' status

Amnesty International has withdrawn the status of 'prisoner of conscience' from Russian opponent Alexei Navalni due to his xenophobic rhetoric in the past.

The human rights defense organization has made the decision to strip the prominent Russian opponent of that status, which it granted him on January 17 when he was arrested, following a wave of complaints that NGO employees describe as "a coordinated campaign."

Supporters of the anti-corruption activist see it as a plan from around the Kremlin aimed at discrediting the opponent in the West.

Amnesty continues to consider the activist a "political prisoner" and demands his release, according to a spokesperson for the organization in Russia by telephone.

Navalni, arrested as soon as he arrived in Russia from Germany, where he was recovered from the poisoning suffered in summer in Siberia and after which the Kremlin's traces are appreciated, has been sentenced to three and a half years in a penal colony as a result of a controversial and old case that the European Court of Human Rights already considered “arbitrary and unfair”.

The 44-year-old opponent flirted with the far right years ago and made a series of xenophobic comments about Central Asian citizens emigrating to Russia.

Speech, Amnesty remarks in a statement, which "has not denounced publicly and reaches the threshold of the defense of hatred."

The organization does not specify which comments it refers to.

Although several videos from two decades ago of Navalni are well known, a populist and nationalist politician - although in the same vein as practically all of Russia - who in recent years has moved away from these positions and has embraced a more liberal ideology , with racist comments, which in recent months have reappeared with force on the networks.

The director of Amnesty International for Russia, Natalia Zvyagina, has explained in an interview with the Echo Moscow station that the status' prisoner of conscience 'is granted to people “imprisoned solely for their beliefs expressed in a non-violent way' and that the“ baggage ”of Navalni contradicts that premise.

Zvyagina has acknowledged that the NGO has now made the decision due to numerous complaints received at Amnesty headquarters around the world which an organization spokesperson describes as "very similar".

• Alexéi Navalni, the agitator who challenges Putin

The change in Navalni's status was made internally and was ultimately decided at the head office, an Amnesty Russian spokesperson said.

They met this Tuesday night following an exchange of emails with the NGO published on Twitter by American journalist Aaron Maté, critical of the anti-corruption activist.

Navalni supporters denounce a "smear campaign" towards the opponent.

Oleg Stepanov, head of the Navalni headquarters in Moscow, said on Twitter that it was all about "an open game on the side of the dictatorship."

One of the most active sources that has led the balance to tip to remove the activist from the label has been the columnist and collaborator of the state television channel RT Katya Kazbek, as Zvyagina has recognized a Russian television channel.

Russian investigative media, such as

, have revealed that behind Kazbek's pseudonym is the daughter of a prominent Russian oligarch who lives in the United States.