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Russian Court Rejects Navalny's Arrest Appeal

VOA News

   A Russian court has ordered opposition leader Alexei Navalny to remain
   in jail, rejecting his appeal for release as authorities detained
   several of his associates following massive anti-Kremlin street
   protests in scores of Russian cities last weekend.
   Navalny was arrested January 17 when he returned from Germany and
   sentenced to 30 days in jail for parole violations he denies
   committing. He spent five months in Germany recovering from nerve-agent
   poisoning that he blames on the Russian government. Russian authorities
   have denied the allegations.
   The opposition leader, who could spend years in jail, condemned the
   criminal proceedings against him as a government campaign to intimidate
   Kremlin opponents.
   "You won't succeed in scaring tens of millions of people who have been
   robbed by that government," Navalny told the court Thursday via a video
   link from jail.
   Navalny's attorneys have rejected the charges of parole violations,
   arguing that he was unable to fully comply with his probation terms
   because he was convalescing in Germany. His defense also maintained
   that due process was repeatedly violated during his arrest.
   Late Wednesday, Navalny's brother, Oleg, and Lyubov Sobol, a lawyer at
   Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK), were arrested and told they
   would be detained for two days, when a court is expected to decide on
   their pretrial restrictions as part of a criminal investigation into
   alleged violations of coronavirus containment measures during last
   weekend's protests.

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