Russian court rejects Navalny's appeal; allies detained

Moscow: A Russian court on Thursday rejected opposition leader Alexei Navalny's appeal against his arrest while authorities detained several of his allies and issued warnings to social media companies after tens of thousands swarmed the streets in over 100 Russian cities last weekend demanding his release.

Speaking to court via video link from jail, Navalny denounced criminal proceedings against him as part of the government's efforts to intimidate the opposition.

You won't succeed in scaring tens of millions of people who have been robbed by that government, he said.

The 44-year-old Navalny, the most well-known critic of President Vladimir Putin's government, was arrested January 17 upon his return 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 on request by Russia's penitentiary service, which charged that he had violated probation terms from a suspended sentence on a 2014 money-laundering conviction, which he rejected as politically driven. He now also faces accusations in two separate criminal probes.

The Moscow Region Court on Thursday rejected his appeal against the arrest.

During the court hearing, Navalny's defense argued that he was undergoing rehabilitation in Germany and was unable to register with authorities as required by probation terms during the period. His lawyers also contested his arrest, charging that due process was repeatedly violated.

In his remarks during the hearing, Navalny denounced his jailing during a court hearing quickly staged at a police station as a mockery of justice.

It was demonstrative lawlessness intended to scare me and all others, he said.

In an apparent effort to thwart the next wave of rallies set for Sunday, police on Wednesday searched Navalny's apartment, a rented accomodation where Navalny's wife, Yulia, has been living and residences of several of his associates and supporters.

Navalny's brother Oleg, his top ally Lyubov Sobol, Dr. Anastasia Vasilyeva from the Navalny-backed Alliance of Doctors and Maria Alyokhina from the Pussy Riot punk collective were detained for 48 hours as part of a criminal probe into alleged violations of coronavirus regulations during the weekend's protests.

Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the searches and detentions were a legitimate part of police efforts to investigate the alleged violations during Saturday's rallies.

Law enforcement agencies are doing their job, Peskov said in a conference call with reporters.