Kremlin critic Alexey Navalny remanded in custody
The ruling concluded an hours-long court hearing set up at a police precinct where the opposition politician was detained after his arrest upon arrival in Moscow.
Opposition leader Alexey Navalny is escorted out of a police station in Khimki, outside Moscow, following the court ruling that ordered him jailed for 30 days on January 18, 2021.
A judge has ordered to remand Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny in custody for 30 days, his spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh said on Twitter.
The ruling on Monday concluded an hours-long court hearing set up at a police precinct where the politician has been held since his arrest at a Moscow airport Sunday.
Navalny urged Russians to stage mass anti-government protests during the court hearing which him be kept in detention until February 15.
"Do not be silent. Resist. Take to the streets," the 44-year-old anti-corruption campaigner said in a video posted on YouTube from the police station where the hearing was convened.
Navalny flew to Russia from Germany, where he had spent five months recovering from nerve agent poisoning that he blames on the Kremlin.
Alexey @navalny inside an improvised court put together at the local police precinct: "I have seen lots of mockeries of Russian justice, but I've never seen anything as illegal as this" https://t.co/54cin4puWN
— Christo Grozev (@christogrozev) January 18, 2021
Detained at Moscow
Navalny's foundation said he was detained at a Moscow airport on arrival from Germany provoking EU powers to condemn his arrest.
"Navalny is a Russian citizen. He was illegally detained. Lawyers are not allowed to see him," his Anti-Corruption Foundation wrote on Twitter on Monday, after he returned from Germany where he was recovering from nerve agent poisoning.
Navalny lawyer Olga Mikhailova told the Echo of Moscow radio station she was not being permitted to see her client, who was being held at a police station near the airport.
"I am not being allowed into the building of the police department in the district of Khimki," she said.
Navalny's spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh said on Twitter that two of the opposition leader's lawyers had been allowed to enter the police building, but that they were not given access to him.
READ MORE: Russian opposition leader Navalny to return to Russia after poisoning
It is appalling that Alexey Navalny, the victim of a despicable crime, has been detained by Russian authorities. He must be immediately released.
— Dominic Raab (@DominicRaab) January 18, 2021
Rather than persecuting Mr Navalny Russia should explain how a chemical weapon came to be used on Russian soil.
EU powers seek Navalny's release
Britain's Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab condemned his arrest as "appalling", and called for the Kremlin critic's release.
Europen Union and Germany also demanded Moscow immediately release him.
EU chief Ursula von der Leyen also joined the international chorus of condemnation of Russia's arrest of Navalny and demanded his release.
"I condemn the detention of Alexei Navalny," she said.
"The Russian authorities must immediately release him and ensure his safety."
Von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, also repeated Brussels' call for an independent investigation into an attempt on Navalny's life.
READ MORE: Germany says new reports confirm Russia’s role in Navalny poisoning
EU countries distracting from domestic issues
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Western countries' expressions of outrage over the detention of Navalny were designed to distract their own citizens from domestic problems.
"It looks like Western politicians see this as an opportunity to divert attention from the deepest crisis the liberal development model has found itself in," he said.
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