MOSCOW: Police in Moscow on Thursday detained the spokeswoman of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny and several other of his allies for making calls online to join unauthorised street protests to demand his release.
Navalny, President Vladimir Putin’s most prominent critic, was detained at the weekend and later jailed for alleged parole violations after flying back to Russia for the first time since being poisoned by a military-grade nerve agent.
He accuses Putin of ordering his murder, which the Kremlin denies. His supporters have called for nationwide protests on Saturday, hoping to press the Kremlin into letting him walk free ahead of parliamentary elections in September.
In Brussels, responding to Navalny’s arrest, European Union lawmakers called for the bloc to stop the completion of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to take Russian natural gas to Europe.
Several of Navalny’s allies in Russia said police had come to their homes, including that of his spokeswoman Kira…