RUSSIAN JUDGE JAILS NAVALNY FOR 30 DAYS; KREMLIN FOE CALLS FOR PROTESTS

Mon 18 January 2021:

A Russian court has ordered Alexey Navalny be remanded in pre-trial detention for 30 days, a move that will heighten tensions between Moscow and Western leaders who are calling for the Kremlin critic’s release.

Monday’s verdict was delivered in a courtroom set up at the police station in Khimki, on the outskirts of Moscow.

Navalny was arrested on Sunday night, upon arriving back in Russia for the first time since being allegedly poisoned last year.

Following Monday’s hearing, Navalny called on people to protest against the ruling and Russia’s authorities.

Алексея из зала «суда» pic.twitter.com/Dqsa4x0qrz

— Кира Ярмыш (@Kira_Yarmysh) January 18, 2021

pic.twitter.com/NTT3Y15EMv

— Alexey Navalny (@navalny) January 18, 2021

In a video clip posted on YouTube, Navalny said: “Don’t be afraid, take to the streets. Don’t go out for me, go out for yourself and your future.”

His arrest at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport was ordered by Russia’s prison service, which has said he violated the terms of a suspended prison sentence he was handed in 2014.

Navalny claims the embezzlement charges relating to the 2014 case are politically motivated.

He will now remain in prison until at least February 15, with a different court set to decide whether to convert his suspended three and a half year sentence into real jail time.

Navalny’s aides said the 44-year-old had been denied access to his lawyers and was notified at the last minute of Monday’s hearing.

In a video recorded from inside the police station, Navalny himself said he was “facing a mockery of justice” and lashed out at Russian President Vladimir Putin, accusing him of throwing the criminal code out of the window in fear.