Spectacular Navalny blow: Putin's billion-dollar “secret palace” revealed? - The Kremlin irons Merkel

Alexei Navalny was arrested on Sunday after landing in Moscow.

In an urgent procedure, a Russian court has now pronounced the verdict: Navalny must be detained.

• Alexej Navalny * was

  arrested in Russia on Sunday.

• For several hours it was unclear where the Russian police were

  holding

  the

  Putin critic

  .

• Now

  Navalny has

  been sentenced to 30 days imprisonment

  in an

  urgent trial

  in a police building

  (see update from January 18, 3 p.m.).

• This

  news ticker

  is updated regularly.

Update January 19, 17.00:

The team of

Alexei Navalny

has a large-scale research one day after his arrest over an alleged super expensive

secret palace

of Russian

President Vladimir Putin

made public.

Under the title “A Palace for Putin.

The story of the greatest bribery ”, Nawalny's employees posted an almost two-hour YouTube video on Tuesday in which the opposition leader accused the Russian head of state of having built a“ kingdom ”for himself for 100 billion rubles (1.1 billion euros) 39 times the size of Monaco.

Within half an hour, the film received

almost half a million views

on

YouTube

.

There was initially no reaction from the Kremlin.

The film was therefore produced while Navalny was still in

Germany

, where he recovered from an attack with the neurotoxin Novitschok in August by Sunday.

Actually,

Navalny

wanted to present the research himself after his return to Russia, wrote his spokeswoman

Kira Jarmysch

on Twitter.

But since he was arrested directly, that was not possible.

“Navalny fought for our rights for many years.

Now it's our turn to fight for him, ”reads a clip before the actual video.

At the end of the video, Navalny calls on his supporters to

protest next Saturday

: “Our future is in our hands.

Do not be silent! ”Protest calls of this kind are repeatedly severely punished in Russia.

Demonstrations are only possible with permission and have not been allowed for months due to the corona pandemic.

Dispute over Navalny - Putin harshly irons Merkel: "We don't allow it!"

Update from January 19, 12:48 p.m.:

The

Kremlin

has

resolutely rejected

the demand by the

federal government

and other states for the release of Putin critic

Alexej Navalny

, who was

arrested in Moscow after his return

.

"This is an internal matter for the Russian Federation, we do not allow it to interfere," said

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov

on Tuesday, according to the Interfax agency.

The spokesman for President

Vladimir Putin

also said that there were reasons for the arrest of Navalny on the Sunday after his landing.

The Putin opponent was arrested for violating probation conditions in a previous criminal case.

Peskow described Navalny's allegations that Putin was “afraid” of the opposition and had him locked up as “nonsense”.

There is no special reason for Putin to get involved in the Navalny case.

After Navalny called for protests against Putin, Peskov said the Kremlin is not afraid of it.

Because of the

corona pandemic

, demonstrations have not been allowed in Russia for months.

Alexei Navalny in Russian custody: Putin critic is already threatened with the next trial

Update from January 19, 12:14 p.m.:

Alexei Navalny

has already been sentenced

to 30 days in prison

.

Now the Kremlin critic is threatened with the next trial: According to the AFP news agency, he

will be brought to a Russian court

on Wednesday (January 20) in another trial for

defamation of

a World War II veteran.

According to his lawyer Vadim Kobesv, it was initially unclear whether Navalny could even appear before the judges because of the usual 14-day corona quarantine after his entry.

“We have no idea,” said Kobsew on the Echo Moscow radio station.

The defamation proceedings had already started in July last year.

However

, it was suspended

after the

poison attack

on

Navalny

and its subsequent treatment in Germany.

The judiciary accuses the 44-year-old of "untrue" and "insulting" statements about a World War II veteran.

He had spoken out in favor of the constitutional referendum by Russian President Vladimir Putin on television.

The veteran who filed charges against the

Kremlin critic

will not appear in court in person, according to Nawalny's lawyer.

If convicted, Navalny faces a fine of up to five million rubles (56,000 euros) and up to five years in prison.

Alexei Navalny: Is the Putin critic sitting in the notorious prison Sailors Rest?

Update from January 19, 8:20

a.m

.:

The team of the Russian Kremlin critic

Alexej

Navalny

has expressed concern about his detention conditions.

Navalny will be locked in the notorious Sailors Resting Prison in Moscow, wrote the head of Navalny's anti-corruption foundation, Ivan Zhdanov, on Twitter on Monday evening.

There was initially no official confirmation.

There have always been mysterious

deaths

in the prison

.

Part of the pre-trial detention center is

controlled

by the domestic intelligence service

FSB

, wrote Zhdanov - "the FSB that tried to poison Navalny *".

Navalny is now sitting in a real remand prison for the first time, wrote his spokeswoman Kira Jarmysch.

It is almost impossible to establish contact with him there.

The Russian leadership was silent largely on the procedures to

Navalny

.

+

A supporter of Navalny holds a poster in front of the Russian police station that reads “For Navalny”.

© Pavel Golovkin / dpa

Alexej Navalny: Criticism comes from Gregor Gysi

Update from January 18, 5:56 p.m

.: The foreign policy spokesman for the left-wing

faction

,

Gregor Gysi

,

criticized

the way the Russian authorities

dealt

with the

Kremlin opponent Alexej Navalny

after his return from Germany.

"I think it's completely wrong that

Navalny was

sentenced to 30 days in prison for violating reporting obligations immediately after his return," said

Gysi

on Monday.

"Even if

Navalny is

severely attacking the political structure in Russia, a person after an attempted murder in Russia and his recovery in Germany should not be treated like this on arrival."

Gysi

added that he hoped the court would refrain from revoking the parole .

Navalny: “Unacceptable” - EU states are demanding immediate release

Update from January 18, 4 p.m.:

In a joint declaration, the EU states demanded the

immediate release of

Alexej Navalny

.

In it they warned the Russian government against further repression against the opposition and civil society.

“The politicization of the judiciary is unacceptable, and Mr Navalny's rights must be respected,” the letter published on Monday said.

The

European Union

will include developments in its policy towards Russia.

The current

imprisonment of the opposition politician

confirms the negative image that the space for the opposition, civil society and independent voices in Russia is shrinking.

Arrested journalists and supporters of Nawalnys must be released immediately.

The EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell disseminated the statement

Alexej Navalny addresses society in a YouTube video: Appeal to take to the streets

Update from January 18, 3:45 pm:

“Don't be afraid, take to the streets - not for me, but for you, for your future.” With these words to his compatriots, the

Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny reported

on Monday in one Video on YouTube to speak.

Shortly after it was published, the Russian court sentenced him to 30 days in prison.

Update from January 18, 3 p.m.:

According to the

German Press Agency,

Alexej Navalny

was

sentenced to

30 days in prison

by a Russian court in an urgent procedure

.

The opposition politician had violated reporting requirements after a previous criminal trial, it said on Monday.

Navalny criticized the process as a political staging with the aim of silencing him.

Federal government calls action against Alexej Navalny "completely untenable"

Update from January 18, 2:45 p.m .:

"The Russian authorities have arrested the victim of an assassination attempt with chemical weapons and not the perpetrators," said

government spokesman Steffen Seibert

.

“The German government therefore urges the Russian government to first release Mr. Navalny immediately;

and secondly, to fully clarify the circumstances of the chemical weapons attack on Russian soil. "

+

Alexej Navalny (M) and his wife Julia at the airport.

Shortly afterwards, the Kremlin critic was arrested.

© Mstyslav Chernov / AP / dpa

Seibert said

the Russian authorities' actions against the opposition politician

were "completely untenable".

The authorities previously justified his arrest on the grounds that he had violated probation obligations.

The judgment in question, according to Seibert, was classified as "arbitrary" by the European Court of Human Rights.

The Russian opposition politician Navalny stayed "after the assassination attempt against him here in Germany to convalescence," said Steffen Seibert.

It is therefore untenable to accuse him of violating his probation conditions for this period.

The government spokesman also criticized Nawalny's short-term judicial hearing at the police station.

Navalny arrest in Russia: International criticism of actions against opposition politicians

Update from January 18, 2 p.m.:

The arrest of the

Kremlin critic Alexej Navalny is

causing

outrage

internationally

.

"We note with great concern that his arrest is the latest in a series of attempts

to silence

Navalny

and other opposition and independent voices critical of the Russian authorities,"

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo wrote

in one Message.

EU Council leader Charles Michel

 called on his Twitter account for the

release of Navalny

: "I call on the Russian authorities to release him immediately." The imprisonment of the opposition politician is unacceptable.

Update from January 18, 12.53 p.m.:

The German federal government had

already requested

the immediate release of

Alexej

Navalny

.

Now EU Commission President

Ursula von der Leyen *

joins.

“I condemn the detention of Alexei Navalny by the Russian authorities.

You have to release it immediately and ensure its safety, ”a statement said.

She also continues to expect an independent investigation into the attack

on the Kremlin critic.

Kremlin critic Alexey Navalny: Russia's foreign minister calls for a joint investigation in the laboratory

But it doesn't look like that at the moment.

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov

instead demanded evidence from

Germany that

the 44-year-old was poisoned,

according to the dpa

.

"Fulfill your international obligations," Lavrov said on Monday at an online press conference.

Russia was unable to

prove

any poisoning with the chemical warfare agent

Novichok

near Navalny

and is therefore not initiating any investigations.

Alternatively, Lavrov suggested that Russian doctors and their Western colleagues could examine the samples together - "so that trust is built".

Several laboratories, including one from the German Armed Forces, had detected the neurotoxin Novitschok in Navalny's blood.

The

EU

therefore also imposed sanctions on representatives of the Russian power apparatus.

Alexej Navalny: Trial in an urgent procedure - "Grandpa in his bunker is now so afraid"

First report from January 18, 11:33 a.m .:

Moscow - As soon as he

landed

in

Russia

, the Russian authorities were already waiting for him.

Putin critic Alexei

Navalny is now apparently to be sentenced by an emergency court.

And possibly at a police station.

The spokeswoman for Navalny, Kira Jarmysch, wrote on Twitter on Monday that his

“trial” was

starting “now” - 12.30 p.m. in Moscow, 10.30 a.m. German time.

Shortly thereafter, she posted a video in which Navalny speaks.

He was taken out of a cell so that he can see his lawyers.

Then he was taken to this

police

building.

“I don't understand,” said Navalny.

He calls the action against him a "peak of lawlessness".

The Russian authorities had "torn up and thrown away the code of criminal procedure."

In other photos that Nawalny's spokeswoman retweeted, you can see people waiting and a camera team in a narrow room.

Alexei Navalny demands that journalists be admitted to the urgent procedure

Navalny can later be seen on the Twitter account of spokeswoman Jarmysch in the room with a judge.

In a video he calls for all journalists to be admitted, not just reporters loyal to the regime.

All others were apparently banned from the building before the "trial".

Lawyers criticized this urgent process as unprecedented - even by Russian standards.

Navalny speaks of

"lawlessness"

.

"I have often seen how the rule of law is ridiculed, but this grandpa in his bunker is now so afraid (...) that now the code of criminal procedure is simply torn up and thrown on the dump,"

Navalny

said

in the improvised Courtroom.

By “grandpa in his bunker” Navalny means the Russian President

Vladimir Putin *

.

"It is impossible what happens here."

Nawalny's lawyers had apparently received a letter

informing them that

a

trial was to

begin

in the police building, which then opened without anyone having been able to prepare.

Nawalny's lawyers and employees had previously stated that there was no trace of the opposition.

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Alexej Navalny apparently shortly before the rush trial in Russia - return from Germany on Sunday

Navalny had on Sunday after five months in Germany, where he recovered from an attack with the neurotoxin

Novitschok *

recovered, abandoned.

After arriving in Moscow, he was arrested at passport control.

The judiciary had put him out to be wanted.

The

Kremlin critic

is said to have violated probation conditions in a previous criminal case during his stay in Germany *.

Navalny criticizes the action against him as politically motivated.

(cibo / dpa) * Merkur.de is part of the Ippen digital network.

List of rubric lists: © Alexei Nikolsky / dpa