MOSCOW
— The anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny was released from custody
Friday, a day after his conviction and sentencing, and hours after protests by his supporters had broken out in Moscow and a half dozen other cities.
Prosecutors asked for his release pending appeal, telling the judge in the city of Kirov that Navalny, a mayoral candidate in Moscow, should be free to “work” with voters before the election in September.
The authorities in the capital have been intent on getting
Navalny, one of the most charismatic leaders of the political protest
movement over the past 18 months, onto the ballot, confident that he
will be defeated by Acting Mayor Sergei Sobyanin. The aim would be to
give Sobyanin a legitimate victory in the heart of Russia’s opposition
movement.
That calculation — more than the street protests — appears to have been the deciding factor in the prosecutors’ motion.
One of Navalny’s closest associates, Leonid Volkov, had said after Thursday’s sentencing that if Navalny goes to prison he will drop out of the mayoral race. That may have supplied the pressure needed to get him freed.
Some of Navalny’s supporters, who believe his prosecution was politically driven, also speculated that Judge Sergei Blinov may have misunderstood the directions he was given before reading out the sentence. Russian judges typically follow the instructions of prosecutors or other higher-ups. But the chief prosecutor had originally demanded immediate incarceration after sentencing, then afterwards went back to the judge with a motion for release.
When Navalny left the courthouse Friday morning, jubilant supporters greeted him with platters of blini, or Russian pancakes, in a dig at the judge’s name.
“What is going on now is a unique phenomenon for the Russian judiciary,” Navalny told reporters in the courtroom. “This is a strange moment: everyone was sad and everyone is happy now. It may happen again later. But for now we have a couple of spare months.”
He said he will make a decision soon whether to pursue a run for mayor or withdraw from the race.
He plans to make a triumphant return to Moscow on the overnight train from Kirov, arriving at 9:43 Saturday morning.
His lawyer told the Russian press that under the terms of his release, Navalny must remain in Moscow.
He and a co-defendant, Pyotr Ofitserov, were convicted of stealing nearly $500,000 in a timber deal that Navalny arranged in 2009 when he was an aide to the governor of the Kirov region. The charges were widely viewed as implausible and intended to remove Navalny from the political scene. Ofitserov also was freed Friday.
Blinov sentenced Navalny to five years, and Ofitserov to four, and ordered that they be taken into immediate custody, which shocked the courtroom full of supporters.
Thursday evening, thousands thronged sidewalks in the heart of Moscow in an un-permitted, last-minute rally. Red Square and nearby Manezh Square were closed off. The police said Friday morning that they had detained 200 people, including some who climbed up onto the second floor windows of the building housing the State Duma, or lower house of parliament.
An appeal of a court decision in Russia typically takes about six weeks — which would bring Navalny right up to Moscow’s election day.
Prosecutors asked for his release pending appeal, telling the judge in the city of Kirov that Navalny, a mayoral candidate in Moscow, should be free to “work” with voters before the election in September.
South Africans pay tribute to the anti-apartheid leader, who remains hospitalized.
That calculation — more than the street protests — appears to have been the deciding factor in the prosecutors’ motion.
One of Navalny’s closest associates, Leonid Volkov, had said after Thursday’s sentencing that if Navalny goes to prison he will drop out of the mayoral race. That may have supplied the pressure needed to get him freed.
Some of Navalny’s supporters, who believe his prosecution was politically driven, also speculated that Judge Sergei Blinov may have misunderstood the directions he was given before reading out the sentence. Russian judges typically follow the instructions of prosecutors or other higher-ups. But the chief prosecutor had originally demanded immediate incarceration after sentencing, then afterwards went back to the judge with a motion for release.
When Navalny left the courthouse Friday morning, jubilant supporters greeted him with platters of blini, or Russian pancakes, in a dig at the judge’s name.
“What is going on now is a unique phenomenon for the Russian judiciary,” Navalny told reporters in the courtroom. “This is a strange moment: everyone was sad and everyone is happy now. It may happen again later. But for now we have a couple of spare months.”
He said he will make a decision soon whether to pursue a run for mayor or withdraw from the race.
He plans to make a triumphant return to Moscow on the overnight train from Kirov, arriving at 9:43 Saturday morning.
His lawyer told the Russian press that under the terms of his release, Navalny must remain in Moscow.
He and a co-defendant, Pyotr Ofitserov, were convicted of stealing nearly $500,000 in a timber deal that Navalny arranged in 2009 when he was an aide to the governor of the Kirov region. The charges were widely viewed as implausible and intended to remove Navalny from the political scene. Ofitserov also was freed Friday.
Blinov sentenced Navalny to five years, and Ofitserov to four, and ordered that they be taken into immediate custody, which shocked the courtroom full of supporters.
Thursday evening, thousands thronged sidewalks in the heart of Moscow in an un-permitted, last-minute rally. Red Square and nearby Manezh Square were closed off. The police said Friday morning that they had detained 200 people, including some who climbed up onto the second floor windows of the building housing the State Duma, or lower house of parliament.
An appeal of a court decision in Russia typically takes about six weeks — which would bring Navalny right up to Moscow’s election day.
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