Russian president Vladimir Putin has demanded that the Netherlands apologise for the arrest of a top Russian diplomat, a feud that comes as the two countries are at odds over Russia’s decision to put on trial a group of Greenpeace activists.
The diplomat, Dmitry Borodin, was arrested in The Hague on Saturday, and he has accused the police of even pulling his one-year-old daughter’s hair as they took him and both his children to the station.
Mr Borodin, whose title is minister-counselor, gave his version of events on his Twitter account.
He said the arrest came even though he identified himself and said he had diplomatic immunity.
Russian foreign ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said Mr Borodin had been arrested over an “absolutely contrived” allegation of child abuse.
Speaking from the APEC summit in Bali, Indonesia, Mr Putin described the arrest as a “rude violation” of treaties on diplomatic relations.
