MOSCOW. Jan 19 (Interfax) - The Kremlin says there are valid reasons for the arrest of opposition activist Alexei Navalny and denies claims that President Vladimir Putin is afraid of Navalny.
Journalists said at a press briefing with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Tuesday that the world media and Navalny believed that Putin was afraid of the opposition activist, which was the reason for his prompt arrest with some violations.
As to what the Kremlin thinks about this, Peskov said, "Clearly, this is complete nonsense. On the whole, the president should absolutely not be associated with the violation of laws of the Russian Federation in any way."
"We know that the FSIN [Federal Penitentiary Service] has had and still has certain claims. Certain rules have been broken. Statistically, probation terms of suspended sentences have been broken about 18,000 times over the past three years. Also 18,000 measures were taken in this connection over the past three years," Peskov said.
"Since this is about a Russian citizen - in this case, the claim against him, the violation of lawful rules, - this has nothing to do with the Russian president and cannot be associated with the president in any way," he said.
"Various sorts of allegations that someone fears someone else are absolute nonsense," Peskov said.
Speaking of the detention of Navalny's supporters on the day of his arrival in Moscow, Peskov said, "If anyone breaks the law anywhere, naturally, the police take measures to restore order."