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30 Dec 2014

Kremlin critic Navalny arrested after breaking house arrest

Found guilty of fraud by a Moscow court, Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny is arrested trying to get to the protest rally that he and punk rockers Pussy Riot had urged people to attend.

Despite being under house arrest, Mr Navalny tweeted that he would attempt to join the protest. He later retweeted an image of his detention (see above), and via social media said, apparently from the police van “my detention doesn’t mean anything. Just one person less at the protest.”

He later tweeted to his supporters: “There’s nothing I can do that you can’t do”.

Earlier both Mr Navalny and his brother Oleg were found guilty of fraud by a Moscow court. He was given a suspended sentence, but his brother was jailed for three and a half years. The US State Department said the sentencing of the brothers was “a disturbing development designed to punish and deter political activism.”

Mr Navalny, a leading critic of the Russian President Vladimir Putin, condemned the court’s decision, saying after the hearing: “This power does not deserve to exist. I am calling on everybody to take to the streets. I’m calling to take to the streets until the power which tortures innocent people is removed.”

Pussy Riot

His supporters pledged to hold a protest on Moscow’s Manezh Square, in front of the Kremlin, later in the day. The punk band Pussy Riot, who themselves have been imprisoned by the Russian authorities, released a video on Tuesday in support of Navalny with details about the protest.

The video shows band members including Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina, sweeping snow in front of the Kremlin in a symbolic clean-up – a reference to the anti-corruption campaign run by Navalny.

The date of the court sentencing had been unexpectedly brought forward from 15 January, provoking suspicion that the authorities were keen to undermine plans by Navalny supporters to stage a mass rally on the same day. Tens of thousands of people had expressed a readiness to join that protest.

‘Ludicrous’ charges

The court on Tuesday found Mr Navalny and his brother Oleg guilty of defrauding two firms of over £322,000 between 2008-2012. Mr Navalny has previously described the charges as ‘ludicrous’.

Alexei and Oleg Navalny (Reuters)

Both men were fined 500,000 roubles (£5,500) but despite the suspended sentence for Alexei Navalny, his brother Oleg was sentenced to three years and six months in a penal colony.

Responding to his brother’s sentence, Mr Navalny told the court: “All of this is being done to punish me even more.”

Mass protest

He remains under house arrest as part of a separate five-year suspended sentence handed down last year, which critics have also denounced as a sham.

Three years ago Mr Navalny led mass demonstrations against President Putin, which saw tens of thousands take to the streets in Moscow and St Petersburg to protest against corruption in high office.