Russian court upholds detention of Kremlin critic Navalny

A Russian court upholds a decision to detain top opposition leader Alexei Navalny for 30 days after he returned to Moscow this month following a near-fatal poisoning.

Judge Musa Musayev of the Moscow Regional Court says a previous ruling by the Khimki City Court should “remain unchanged,” an AFP journalist reports.

Navalny during the hearing slams what he described as the “lawlessness” of the process.

“This is blatant lawlessness to intimidate myself and other people,” Navalny tells the court by video link.

Russian protesters march in support of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny in downtown Moscow on January 23, 2021. The placard with an image of the Kremlin critic reads “Freedom to Navalny!” (Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP)

Police detained President Vladimir Putin’s top domestic critic in a Moscow airport after he returned to Russia on January 17 from Germany.

He had been recovering there from a near-fatal poisoning with the Novichok nerve agent in an attack he blamed on Russian security services and Putin.