Russia detains Navalny as Opp decries new crackdown

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was arrested and faced up to 30 days in prison yesterday, in an apparent move by the authorities to prevent a major protest rally this week. Investigators also opened a criminal investigation into obstructing the work of election officials after Navalny’s allies and ordinary Muscovites staged a series of pickets and rallies in the Russian capital in recent days.

For that offence the protest leaders could face up to five years in prison. A coordinator of Navalny’s Moscow headquarters, Oleg Stepanov, said he had also been detained. The latest crackdown on Russia’s opposition politicians came as they have fought to get on the ballot for the Moscow parliament elections in September amid falling approval ratings for President Vladimir Putin.

They have however been disqualified on what critics say are spurious reasons. Navalny and other anti-Kremlin politicians threatened to stage a major rally on July 27, near the mayor’s office, unless Moscow’s authorities registered opposition candidates within seven days.