Navalny's Movement Coordinator In Vladivostok Detained Over Call For Rallies - Lawyer

VLADIVOSTOK (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 22nd January, 2021) The coordinator of Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny's movement in the Far Eastern city of Vladivostok, Yekaterina Vedernikova, was detained on Friday for calls for an unauthorized protest march, her lawyer Polina Sidelnikova told Sputnik.

The detention was firstly reported by the movement and later was confirmed by Sidelnikova.

"I am at a police department. She [Vedernikova] is here," the lawyer said.

The regional department of the interior ministry has not commented on the issue yet.

Navalny was detained on Sunday upon his arrival from Germany, where he was treated for his alleged poisoning, and then placed in custody for 30 days for violating probation terms on an earlier embezzlement conviction.

His movement called for unauthorized rallies across Russia on January 23, while First Deputy-Minister of Internal Affairs Aleksandr Gorovoy vowed to hold to account those calling for such protests.

Many Western countries have issued statements calling for Navalny's release whereas the Russian Foreign Ministry advised them to focus on their own domestic issues.