MOSCOW — Russian police detained a powerful opponent of President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday during a protest rally staged just hours after a court ordered the activist to remain under house arrest and jailed his brother.
The defiance of Alexei Navalny to attend the anti-Putin demonstration — where crowds chanted against the Russian leader and his policies — pointed to possible reinvigorated opposition at a time when Putin’s image has suffered over issues such as a slumping economy.
“Russia without Putin,” some cried as several thousand demonstrators filled Moscow’s Manezh Square.
Police hustled away Navalny shortly after he arrived but waited for about two hours before moving to disperse protesters.
Earlier Tuesday, Navalny shouted “shame” in a Moscow courtroom after sentences were handed down after trial on fraud charges.
Navalny and brother Oleg received 3½-year sentences. Alexei Navalny avoided prison with a suspended sentence, which required he continue his nearly year-long house arrest during appeals. But his brother was jailed — a move Navalny decried as a pressure tactic by the Kremlin.
“Why are you putting him in jail, just to punish me even more?” he yelled in court.
Several hours later, defying house arrest, Navalny joined demonstrators shouting “I am the brother of Navalny!” and “Free Russia!”
The trial of Navalny and his brother — charged with bilking a company using doctored shipping orders — became a rallying point for Putin’s opponents, who claim the case was politically motived punishment.
In Washington, State Department spokesman Jeff Rathke called the Moscow court decisions a “disturbing development designed to punish and deter political activism.”
In the past year, anti-government protesters have confronted increasing pressures in Russia, which deepened its involvement in Ukraine’s conflict and faced growing tensions with the West.
