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Status: 27.01.2021 11:04 pm
Russian police arrested the brother and two employees of the jailed opposition politician Navalny. Previously, several offices and private homes of the team and Nawalny’s family had been searched in raids.
During the raids on relatives and employees of the imprisoned Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, his brother, among others, were arrested. Oleg Navalny was initially in custody for 48 hours, Navalny employee Ivan Zhdanov said on Twitter. The reason given was a violation of the crown’s hygiene requirements, Nawalny’s team wrote on Telegram. Also arrested were lawyer Lyubow Sobol, a close confidant and colleague of Alexej Navalny, and an employee of the Navalny anti-corruption foundation.
Masked uniformed men had searched the offices and private apartments of the opposition politician’s family and employees since the afternoon; apparently, the accusation here was also of hygiene violations. The family’s Moscow apartment, one of Navalny’s wife, Julia, and her press spokesperson, Kira Jarmysch, were searched.
Brother not arrested for the first time
Nawalny’s brother had already been sentenced to a long prison term years ago. Navalny accused the state of taking Oleg hostage in order to pressure him himself.
The most recent wave of searches came the day before a court was about to rule on Alexei Navalny’s 30-day prison sentence. Navalny’s lawyers want the 44-year-old to be released in the Khimki city court near Moscow on Thursday. The Russian opposition leader was detained at the airport on January 17 after his return to Russia. He is said to have violated reporting requirements in a previous criminal case while recovering from a poison attack in Germany.
Navalny’s arrest had sparked international outrage. According to the organizers, up to 300,000 people demonstrated in Russia last weekend for his release. The protests are supposed to continue on Sunday.
