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Opposition blogger Navalny re-detained immediately after brief release

Russian opposition blogger Alexei Navalny was detained right as he was exiting the detention facility

Alexei Navalny Dmitriy Serebryakov/TASS

Alexei Navalny

© Dmitriy Serebryakov/TASS

MOSCOW, September 24. /TASS/. Just as he was heading for the exit of a detention facility after being released from a 30-day arrest for an unsanctioned rally in downtown Moscow in January 2018, Russian opposition blogger Alexei Navalny, was taken back into custody again, Navalny’s spokesperson Kira Yarmysh tweeted on Monday.

"Alexei Navalny was detained right as he was exiting the detention facility. He was once again led away to the Danilovsky police precinct," she wrote. "This time under Part 4 of Article 20.2 of the Administrative Offenses Code of the Russian Federation (violation of the established procedure for organizing or staging a meeting, rally or picket)," she explained.

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Yarmysh said a court session is scheduled for Monday at Moscow’s Simonovsky Court, adding that Navalny is facing a fine to the tune of 300,000 rubles ($4,537) or an arrest for as long as 20 days.

Navalny’s ally Leonid Volkov, for his part, tweeted that Part 4 of Article 20.0 had never been applied to the blogger earlier. "This is an evident attempt to trump up a new criminal charge," Volkov blogged on his Twitter account. He supposed that the new administrative case is related to the unsanctioned rallies against the country’s pension reform on September 9, during which Navalny was serving his arrest.

Police drew up an administrative report on Navalny following the unsanctioned January protest. In February, the Tverskoi District Court twice returned the case to police, demanding that errors made while preparing documents for the hearings be corrected. Those found guilty of violating the article in question may face a fine of 150,000 to 300,000 rubles ($2,267 to $ 4,537) or an arrest of up to 30 days.

On August 25, police officers took Navanly into custody outside his home, carting him off to a police station where he remained until the court hearing.

On May 15, the Tverskoi District Court handed Navalny a 30-day arrest for arranging an unauthorized protest in Moscow on May 5. On the same day, he was sentenced to a 15-day detention penalty for disobeying police orders (since he had already been under arrest for 15 days).

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