Moscow court mulls house arrest for Navalny's allies
A Moscow court is considering a request to put several allies of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny under house arrest as authorities work to stymie more protests over the anti-corruption investigator’s jailing
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A Moscow court on Friday considered a request to put several allies of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny under house arrest as authorities work to stymie more protests over the anti-corruption investigator's jailing.
Navalny's supporters are calling for rallies on Sunday to demand his freedom. Tens of thousands of people rallied across Russia last weekend to protest his Jan. 17 arrest and 30-day detention.
The 44-year-old Navalny, the best-known critic of President Vladimir Putin’s government, was arrested upon returning from Germany where he spent five months recovering from nerve-agent poisoning that he blames on the Kremlin. Russian authorities have rejected the accusations.
Navalny was jailed for 30 days after Russia’s prison service alleged he had violated the probation terms of his suspended sentence from a 2014 money-laundering conviction that he has rejected as politically motivated. A Moscow court on Thursday rejected his appeal for his release, and another hearing next week could turn his 3 1/2-year suspended sentence into a real one.
As part of government efforts to stem the tide of protests, police detained Navalny’s brother, Oleg; his top ally, Lyubov Sobol; Oleg Stepanov, the head of Navalny’s Moscow office; Dr. Anastasia Vasilyeva from the Navalny-backed Alliance of Doctors; and Maria Alyokhina from the Pussy Riot punk collective. They were detained for 48 hours as part of a criminal probe into alleged violations of coronavirus regulations during Saturday’s protests.
Sobol's lawyer, Vladimir Voronin, said on Twitter that investigators asked Moscow's Tverskoy District Court to put Sobol and the four others under house arrest.
In a strong challenge to the Kremlin, demonstrations calling for Navalny’s release took place in more than 100 Russian cities Saturday, Nearly 4,000 people were reportedly detained at those protests, and some were given fines and jail terms.
In Moscow, over 1,600 people have been charged with violations, and 154 received jail terms ranging from seven to 15 days for their involvement in last Saturday's protests, the Moscow City Court said Friday.
Navalny’s arrest and the harsh police actions at the protests have brought wide criticism from the West and calls for his release.
Appearing in court via video link from jail, Navalny on Thursday denounced the criminal proceedings against him as part of a government campaign to intimidate the opposition.
“You won’t succeed in scaring tens of millions of people who have been robbed by that government,” he said. “Yes, you have the power now to put me in handcuffs, but it’s not going to last forever.”
Navalny fell into a coma on Aug. 20 while on a domestic flight from Siberia to Moscow. He was transferred to a Berlin hospital two days later. Labs in Germany, France and Sweden, and tests by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, established that he was exposed to the Soviet-era Novichok nerve agent.
Russian authorities have refused to open a full-fledged criminal inquiry, citing a lack of evidence that he was poisoned.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.