MOSCOW. 29 December 2020, (TON): Russia’s prison service has given ultimatum to Alexei Navalny to immediately fly back from Germany and report at a Moscow or be jailed if he returns after that deadline of 29 December.

Navalny was one of the strongest critic of President Vladimir Putin and was being airlifted to Germany for treatment in August, when he collapsed. The Western nations alleged that it was an attempt to murder him with a Novichok nerve agent. However, Russia has denied any involvement in the incident.

Navalny is serving out a suspended three-and-a-half-year prison term over a theft case he says was politically motivated. His probation period expires on 30 December.

The prison service said in a statement late on Monday that it had summoned Navalny to report to the inspection authority and that his suspended sentence could be changed to a real jail term if his suspected violations of the terms of the suspended sentence were proven to be true. However, it seems that it was impossible for Navalny to return in time.