JAKARTA - Nearly a thousand people were detained on Tuesday night February 2 in Russia, after mass protests erupted in Moscow and Saint Petersburg, after a court sentenced Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny to 2 1/2 years in prison.
Navalny, a prominent critic of President Vladimir Putin, was found guilty of violating the terms of his probation while recuperating from neurotoxicity in Germany.
Probation was imposed on Navalny for embezzlement in 2014. Navalny rejected this accusation, feeling that the accusation was fabricated and had political nuances.
Navalny was arrested on January 17, after returning from a 5-month recovery period in Germany. Navalny accused Russia of being behind the attack on him. Meanwhile Russia has denied this accusation.
Before the verdict was handed down against the 44-year-old anti-corruption campaigner, massive protests across Russia were held demanding Navalny's release. Western countries have also urged Navalny to be released.
Not waiting long after the verdict was announced at 8 p.m. local time, protesters immediately gathered in the center of Moscow, as well as on the main street of Saint Petersburg, Nevsky Prospekt, reported Euronews.
Riot police arrested the protesters and put them in a police vehicle. A total of 918 people were detained according to the OVD-Info group which is monitoring the arrests.
The verdict against Navalny is not far from a sentence of probation for 3.5 years. Previously, Navalny had spent one year under house arrest which was counted as a sentence.
Navalny and his lawyers stressed that the European Court of Human Rights had ruled that his 2014 sentence was against the law. Russia was also ordered to pay compensation to Navalny in this ruling.
Apart from that, Navalny and his lawyers also denied that they violated the probation period on purpose. According to him, when he was in Germany for recovery, of course he could not make the obligatory report as requested during his probation.
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