Moscow – A Russian court has confirmed the 30-day arrest warrant for opposition leader Alexey Navalny on Thursday. The court rejected the call for Navalny’s immediate release, assuring that President Vladimir Putin’s top critic will remain behind bars, while his allies – those who were not arrested themselves – are planning a new series of protests. en masse across the country for this weekend.
Thursday’s hearing was followed by a wave of police raids in dozens of locations in Moscow, which saw many of Navalny’s allies and his brother detained.
Alexander Zemlianichenko / AP
Navalny, 44, he was kept earlier this month at an airport in Moscow immediately after his return from Germany, where he spent the last five months recovering from Soviet-era deadly nerve poisoning Novichok. He believe The attack took place in Russia on Putin’s orders, an accusation the Kremlin rejected.
The opposition politician was remanded in custody on charges of violating the terms of a previous suspended sentence, resulting from a previous conviction that Navalny rejected as politically motivated.
Addressing the court in the Moscow region on Thursday via a video link from prison, Navalny condemned the criminal proceedings against him as an attempt by the authorities to intimidate him.
“A huge number of people, tens of millions of people agree with me,” he told the court. “We will never allow these people to take over and steal our country.”
Mstyslav Chernov / AP
He also expressed support for fellow activists who did so they faced persecution since he participated in the massif, street protests nationwide over his detention last weekend. The court quickly dismissed his appeal against the arrest.
Protests in more than 100 Russian cities last Saturday were unsanctioned by Russian authorities, and police responded by arresting about 3,500 people.
Navalny’s arrest after the poisoning attempt, which left him hospitalized in serious condition for weeks, condemned senior US and European officials. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said this week that the United States was “deeply concerned” about Navalny’s safety.
“The more important point is that his voice is the voice of many, many, many Russians and should be heard, not silenced,” Blinken said at his first official briefing on Wednesday, adding that the new Biden administration did not rule out any action in response. .
Navalny’s brother Oleg, as well as his allies Lyubov Sobol and Anastasia Vasilyeva, and Maria Alyokhina, a member of activist group Pussy Riot, were among those detained on Wednesday night in connection with criminal investigations into last weekend’s protests.