Alexey Navalny calls on his supporters to take to the streets as his team announces protests on Saturday
After being remanded in custody for 30 days pending trial, Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny has released a video message on his popular YouTube channel “Navalny Live,” calling on his supporters to take to the streets.
What are these bunker thieves afraid of? You yourself know very well. People taking to the streets. So this is the thing, the political factor that can’t be ignored. It itself is the main thing, the most important thing. This is the essence of politics. So don’t be afraid — take to the streets. Go out not for me, but for yourself, for your future.
The head of Navalny’s regional network, Leonid Volkov, also announced on Twitter that his team “are beginning preparations immediately for large rallies across the country on January 23” (this coming Saturday).
Navalny was remanded custody at the request of Russia’s Federal Penitentiary Service, which is seeking to revoke his probation in Yves Rocher case and incarcerate him under a reinstated sentence on the grounds that he evaded the oversight of the corrective services.
Navalny flew home to Moscow from Berlin on Sunday, January 17, after spending five months in Germany recovering from chemical nerve agent poisoning. Police detained the opposition figure after he landed at Sheremetyevo International Airport and took him to a police station in Khimki, where his remand hearing was held the next day.