A Russian judge ruled to remand opposition leader Alexey Navalny in custody for 30 days following his return from Germany on Sunday, where he was recovering from an August poisoning that he blames on Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Russian authorities warned Navalny that he would be arrested for a parole violation in a case of embezzlement. A European Court of Human Rights later ruled that Russia had denied Navalny a fair trial in the case.
Navalny appeared in a makeshift courtroom inside a police station on Monday, where he said he hadn’t been allowed to see his lawyers until moments before the proceedings began.
A Putin spokesperson was silent on the matter, but last month suggested Navalny worked for U.S. intelligence and was too inconsequential for anyone to want him killed. A majority in a Russian poll said they did not believe the Russian government had tried to eliminate a political opponent.
A Moscow court rules next month whether Navalny’s suspended sentence of 3.5 years in the embezzlement case will be converted into a prison sentence.
Story at NPR.
