Court fines Kremlin critic Navalny’s wife after protests in Moscow

Associated Press

4 years ago

Wife of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, Yulia arrives to attend a hearing at a court in Moscow, Russia, Monday, Feb. 1, 2021. Yulia Navalnaya was detained in Moscow during an unauthourized rally to support her husband on 31 January 2021. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

MOSCOW (AP) — A Moscow court on Monday has ordered the wife of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny to pay a fine of 20,000 rubles (about $265) for violating protest regulations after she attended a demonstration in the Russian capital to demand his release.

Tens of thousands took to the streets in dozens of Russian cities on Sunday, chanting slogans against Russian President Vladimir Putin and demanding that authorities free Navalny, who was jailed last month and faces a prison term.

His wife, Yulia Navalnaya, joined a protest in Moscow that took place despite unprecedented security measures that city authorities took ahead of the rally.

She was quickly detained and charged with participating in an unauthorized rally. A court on Monday ordered Navalnaya to pay a fine, her lawyer Svetlana Davydova told the Interfax news agency. Davydova said the defense plans to appeal the ruling.

Police officers detain a man during a protest against the jailing of opposition leader Alexei Navalny in Moscow, Russia, on Sunday, Jan. 31, 2021. Thousands of people took to the streets Sunday across Russia to demand the release of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny, keeping up the wave of nationwide protests that have rattled the Kremlin. Hundreds were detained by police. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

People clash with police during a protest against the jailing of opposition leader Alexei Navalny in Moscow, Russia, Sunday, Jan. 31, 2021. Thousands of people took to the streets Sunday across Russia to demand the release of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny, keeping up the wave of nationwide protests that have rattled the Kremlin. Hundreds were detained by police. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

Police detain a man during a protest against the jailing of opposition leader Alexei Navalny in Siberian city of Omsk, Russia, on Sunday, Jan. 31, 2021. Thousands of people took to the streets Sunday across Russia to demand the release of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny, keeping up the wave of nationwide protests that have rattled the Kremlin. Hundreds were detained by police. (AP Photo)

A woman walks away sas police stand blocking the entry to the street, during a protest against the jailing of opposition leader Alexei Navalny in Moscow, Russia, Sunday, Jan. 31, 2021. Thousands of people have taken to the streets across Russia to demand the release of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny, keeping up the wave of nationwide protests that have rattled the Kremlin. Hundreds have been detained by police. (AP Photo/Andrew Lubimov)

Police detain protesters during a protest against the jailing of opposition leader Alexei Navalny in St. Petersburg, Russia, Sunday, Jan. 31, 2021. Thousands of people have taken to the streets across Russia to demand the release of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny, keeping up the wave of nationwide protests that have rattled the Kremlin. Hundreds have been detained by police. (AP Photo/Valentin Egorshin)

People attend a protest against the jailing of opposition leader Alexei Navalny in in St. Petersburg, Russia, Sunday, Jan. 31, 2021. Thousands of people have taken to the streets across Russia to demand the release of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny, keeping up the wave of nationwide protests that have rattled the Kremlin. Hundreds have been detained by police. (AP Photo/Valentin Egorshin)

Police stand blocking approaches to the street as protesters try to break through during a protest against the jailing of opposition leader Alexei Navalny in St. Petersburg, Russia, Sunday, Jan. 31, 2021. Thousands of people have taken to the streets across Russia to demand the release of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny, keeping up the wave of nationwide protests that have rattled the Kremlin. Hundreds have been detained by police. (AP Photo/Valentin Egorshin)

Police officers detain a young demonstrator during a protest near the Matrosskaya Tishina prison where Alexei Navalny is being held, in Moscow, Russia, on Sunday, Jan. 31, 2021. Chanting slogans against President Vladimir Putin, thousands of people took to the streets Sunday across Russia’s vast expanse to demand the release of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny, keeping up the nationwide protests that have rattled the Kremlin. Over 1,600 were detained by police, according to a monitoring group. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

A man with a sign ‘Navalny’ on his back stands in front of riot policemen blocking the way to protester during a protest against the jailing of opposition leader Alexei Navalny in St. Petersburg, Russia, Sunday, Jan. 31, 2021. Thousands of people took to the streets Sunday across Russia to demand the release of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny, keeping up the wave of nationwide protests that have rattled the Kremlin. Hundreds were detained by police. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)

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In the largest outpouring of discontent Russia had seen in years, mass protests engulfed dozens of Russian cities for the second weekend in a row despite efforts by Russian authorities to stifle the unrest triggered by the jailing of 44-year-old Navalny, the Kremlin’s fiercest critic.

Navalny was arrested Jan. 17 upon his return from Germany, where he spent five months recovering from nerve-agent poisoning that he blames on the Kremlin. Russian authorities have rejected the accusations. He faces a prison term for alleged probation violations from a 2014 money-laundering conviction which has been widely seen as politically motivated.

Russian authorities cracked down hard on the demonstrators Sunday, detaining over 5,400 people across the country, according to OVD-Info, a legal aid group that monitors arrests at protests. The group said it was the most in its nine-year history of keeping records in the Putin era.