A Russian court has sentenced Alexey Navalny to jail over alleged parole violations in an embezzlement case dating back to 2014, which the Kremlin opponent argues is politically motivated.

A Russian court sentenced Navalny to three and a half years in jail after ruling he had violated the terms of his parole, but said his prison term would be shortened for time he had served earlier under house arrest.

The Simonovsky District Court in Moscow on Tuesday ordered Navalny to prison for three and a half years, finding that he violated the terms of his probation while recuperating in Germany from nerve-agent poisoning. It said, however, his prison term would be shortened for time he had served earlier under house arrest, which means Navalny will serve more than two and a half years in jail.

The ruling is almost certain to fuel more demonstrations in support of Navalny across the country and deepen a rift between Russia and Western powers demanding the 44-year-old’s release.

It comes two weeks after Navalny was arrested on January 17 upon returning to Moscow from Berlin, where he spent five months recovering from the poisoning that he blames on the Kremlin. Russian authorities reject the accusation.

Speaking from a glass cage in the courtroom during his hearing, Navalny attributed his arrest to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “fear and hatred”, saying the Russian leader will go down in history as a “poisoner”.

“I have deeply offended him simply by surviving the assassination attempt that he ordered,” he said. “The aim of that hearing is to scare a great number of people,” Navalny said. “You can’t jail millions. You can’t jail the entire country.”

Russian police detained 311 people in Moscow ahead of the hearing, the OVD-Info protest monitoring group said.

Riot police were deployed in large numbers outside the court after Navalny’s allies called on supporters to gather outside in support.

Navalny’s detention has sparked nationwide protests against Putin. Thousands of people were detained as tens of thousands defied a heavy police presence to fill the streets in towns and cities across Russia on Sunday for the second week running to demand the Kremlin critic’s release.

World Opinions News – agencies

L’article Russian court jails Alexey Navalny over parole violations est apparu en premier sur World Opinion | Alternative Média.

Russian police have detained thousands of people as protesters took to the streets across the country demanding the release of jailed Kremlin critic Alexey Navalny.

On Sunday, police detained more than 4,000 people at protests in cities nationwide, according to OVD-Info, a group that monitors political arrests.

More than 1,000 people were detained in Moscow. Security forces detained Yulia Navalnaya, wife of Navalny, at a protest in Moscow, his supporters said on social media.

Navalnaya was also detained at a similar demonstration in support of her husband last week.

The first rallies took place in the Far East, including the port city of Vladivostok where protesters gathered in the city’s central square despite police closing it off ahead of the rally.

“The desire to live in a free country is stronger than the fear of being detained,” said Andrei, 25, who declined to give his last name.

Footage from Vladivostok showed dozens of protesters escaping the police on the frozen waters of the Amur Bay and circle dancing. More than 100 arrests were made there.

Police ramp up pressure on opposition with arrests and criminal probes as Navalny allies gather for new protests.

Videos posted online showed demonstrators being hauled into buses by police. The mostly young people were seen dancing and chanting: “Putin is a thief,” and “Freedom for Russia.”

Interior ministry spokeswoman Irina Volk denounced the demonstrators.

“In the current circumstances, the risk of the protests’ … provocations is increasing and their aim is to violate civil order. In this situation, your personal safety can be under threat. We strongly recommend you to warn your underage children, other relatives and acquaintance from participating in the unauthorised events,” she said.

Yulia, a 40-year-old protester in Moscow, said she had come to the protests despite having a panic attack the night before because of worrying about repercussions for taking part.

“I understand that I live in a totally lawless state. In a police state, with no independent courts. In a country ruled by corruption. I would like to live differently,” she said, only giving her first name.

Despite authorities ramping up pressure on the opposition with arrests, Navalny aides called for new nationwide demonstrations ahead of the opposition leader’s trial set to start on Tuesday.

The United States urged Russia to release Navalny and criticised the crackdown on protests.

“The US condemns the persistent use of harsh tactics against peaceful protesters and journalists by Russian authorities for a second week straight,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Twitter.

World Opinions News – agencies

L’article Russia arrests thousands as crackdown on Navalny allies continues est apparu en premier sur World Opinion | Alternative Média.

Politicians know that they have a problem when they have to deny it. On Monday, Vladimir Putin insisted that an extravagant palace on the Black Sea coast did not belong to him, following a video exposé released by the opposition leader, Alexei Navalny, and so far watched by around 90 million people. Footage of him swimming in a giant pool was fake.

Nothing described as his property there either “belongs to or ever belonged to me or my close relatives. Ever”, Mr Putin said. (His opponent has said that the estate formally belongs to four proxies.)

The Russian president and his allies have preferred to publicly ignore Mr Navalny. Now, they are attacking him and his claims head-on, and denouncing the protests he has inspired as illegal and dangerous. Tens of thousands took to the streets in more than 100 cities across the country on Saturday, in the largest show of opposition for years – prompting police to arrest thousands, including Mr Navalny’s wife, Yulia, and many of his allies.

The demonstrations were sparked primarily by Mr Navalny’s arrest on his return to Russia, following treatment in Germany after the suspected FSB assassination attempt. He could be sent to a penal colony, perhaps for years, by the end of this month.

His extraordinary courage, charisma and savvy social media tactics – as well as shock at the novichok poisoning (for which officials say there is no evidence) – have brought support from disparate parts of the Russian opposition, many of whom may not share his broader political outlook. Mr Putin’s approval ratings still appear high, but are well below their peak. Underlying these protests are frustration at poor standards of living and the dismal economic situation, worsened by low oil prices and the pandemic, as well as resentment at corruption and other political abuses. In many places, local issues have fused with wider complaints.

More protests have been called for this weekend, ahead of Mr Navalny’s court hearing. In 2013, he escaped a prison sentence thanks to public pressure. This time, the scale of opposition has rattled the Kremlin, and the uprising that began in Belarus last summer has sharpened anxieties. Mr Navalny, long a nuisance, now looks like a threat. Assaults, pressure on his family, jail and even poisoning have failed to silence him. Keeping him behind bars would keep him quiet, while warning off others. But supporters hope the protests will at least help to maintain attention on his case – and, perhaps, safeguard him while in custody.

The US, EU and UK have rightly called for his immediate and unconditional release. The EU foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, says that he will press the case in Moscow next month. Whether action results – or amounts to more than largely symbolic sanctions – is another matter. Germany is determined to press ahead with the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, despite growing opposition in Europe and sanctions imposed by the US.

Angela Merkel said last week that the attack on Mr Navalny had not changed her basic view of the project. The UK has done embarrassingly little to crack down on money laundering by close friends of the Kremlin. A damning report from the intelligence and security committee last year called the City of London a “laundromat” for illicit funds. Britain’s unexplained wealth orders – introduced in 2018 – could, and should, be used more effectively.

Russian officials and state media are already busy portraying Mr Navalny as a western stooge, though he has always been careful to keep his distance from foreign governments. Mr Putin’s real problem is not his jailed opponent, but the Russian people whose dissatisfaction he harnesses. Their daily experiences do as much to erode the Kremlin’s authority as Mr Navalny’s viral videos. While the president may prefer to ignore it, there is no denying public discontent.

The Guardian view

L’article View on Russia’s protests: Navalny isn’t Putin’s only problem est apparu en premier sur World Opinion | Alternative Média.

More than 200 protesters have been arrested in Russia’s Far East and Siberia on Saturday as people defying bitter cold and a ban by authorities staged nationwide rallies to demand the release of jailed Kremlin critic Alexey Navalny.

Video footage from Vladivostok showed riot police chasing a group of protesters down the street, while demonstrators in Khabarovsk, braving temperatures of about -14C (7F), chanted “Shame!” and “Bandits!”

Police in the Siberian city of Yakutsk, one of the coldest cities in the world and where the temperature was -52C on Saturday, grabbed a protester by his arms and legs and dragged him into a van, video footage from the scene showed.

The OVD-Info monitoring group said that 238 people, including 56 in Novosibirsk, had been arrested so far at the rallies.

In Moscow, police put up barricades around Pushkinskaya Square as workers were engaged in re-tiling it, an apparent attempt to thwart a demonstration that was scheduled to start at 11:00 GMT.

Police also arrested a few people gathered on the square before the rally, including a lone picketer.

Navalny, an ex-lawyer who has accused President Vladimir Putin of ordering his murder, could face years in jail over legal cases that he calls trumped up. Putin has denied involvement.

Navalny’s supporters are hoping they can produce a show of anti-Kremlin street support despite winter conditions and the coronavirus pandemic to pressure the authorities into freeing him.

Navalny faces a years-long prison term. Authorities accused him of violating the terms of a suspended sentence in a 2014 conviction for financial misdeeds, including when he was convalescing in Germany.

After his arrest, his team released an investigation into a lavish Black Sea property allegedly owned by Putin, a claim the Kremlin denied.

The two-hour video report has been viewed more than 64 million times since its release on Tuesday, becoming the Kremlin critic’s most-watched YouTube investigation.

Navalny’s arrest drew widespread Western condemnation, with the United States, the European Union, France and Canada all calling for his release.

World Opinions News – Agencies

L’article Russia arrests dozens amid nationwide pro-Navalny protests est apparu en premier sur World Opinion | Alternative Média.

Kremlin critic Alexey Navalny took off on a plane bound for Russia to return home for the first time since he was poisoned in August, despite Russian authorities’ stated desire to arrest him and potentially jail him for years.

Navalny, one of President Vladimir Putin’s most prominent domestic critics, was flown to Berlin in August last year for emergency medical treatment after being poisoned with what German tests showed was a Novichok nerve agent.

«Никому не интересный блогер» возвращается в Россию. Заборы в аэропорту, автозаки, запрет на вход в здание без билета, люди, согнанные встречать Бузову (кому вообще в голову пришла эта безумная идея?!) pic.twitter.com/XGidV0BUnV

— Кира Ярмыш (@Kira_Yarmysh) January 17, 2021

The activist says the authorities were behind the attempt on his life, an allegation backed up by investigative journalists but denied by the Kremlin.

Mr Navalny, 44, faces arrest on his return from Germany. Extra police have been deployed at the airport in Moscow.

Metal barriers have been erected inside the airport, Vnukovo, and Russian media are reporting that several activists – including key Navalny ally Lyubov Sobol – have been detained there.

Mr Navalny’s spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh posted on social media pictures of police cars at the airport.

Mr Navalny – who had been treated in Germany – earlier appealed to supporters to meet him off the flight, and a « Let’s meet Navalny » page has been set up on Facebook (in Russian). Thousands of people have said they will go or expressed an interest, despite forecasts of extreme cold.

After boarding his Pobeda airlines plane, the opposition politician said: « I’m sure that everything will be absolutely fine, I’m very happy today. »

He also accused the Kremlin of encouraging people to go to Vnukovo to see a pop star, Olga Buzova, in a bid to squeeze out his supporters.

Mr Navalny collapsed on an internal flight in Siberia last August, and it later emerged he had been poisoned with a Novichok nerve agent.

Russian authorities have consistently denied any role in the poisoning, and the Kremlin has rejected Mr Navalny’s claims that President Vladimir Putin himself ordered it.

The Putin critic has said he misses Moscow, is almost fully recovered from the attack, and that there was never any doubt he would return.

World Opinions News – agencies

L’article Kremlin critic Navalny heads home to Russia despite arrest risk est apparu en premier sur World Opinion | Alternative Média.