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Russian courts jail dozens of Putin’s critic Navalny mourners
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By Francesca Hangeior
Russian courts have sentenced dozens of people detained at events commemorating Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny to short prison sentences, official court announcements showed, with 154 sentenced in Saint Petersburg alone.
Details of rulings published by the city’s court service on Saturday and Sunday showed 154 people had been given jail time of up to 14 days for violating Russia’s strict anti-protest laws.
Rights groups and independent media outlets reported a handful of similar sentences in other cities across the country.
The 47-year-old Kremlin critic died on Friday at the Arctic prison colony where he was being held on charges widely seen as retribution for his campaigning against President Vladimir Putin.
Police over the weekend arrested hundreds of Russians in dozens of cities who came to lay flowers and light candles in his honour at memorials to victims of Stalin-era repressions.
Anti-Kremlin demonstrations or public shows of opposition to the regime are effectively illegal in Russia under strict military censorship rules and laws against unapproved rallies.
Police and men in plain clothes patrolled sites in dozens of Russian cities where people had gathered to commemorate Navalny over the weekend.
There were several reports of them removing the pop-up memorials overnight, and footage showed hooded men scooping up flowers into bin bags on a bridge next to the Kremlin where another leading Putin critic, Boris Nemtsov, was killed in 2015.
The news of Navalny’s death, which came just a month before Putin is set to secure another six-year term in the Kremlin, triggered an outpouring of grief and anger among his supporters at home and abroad.
Russian authorities had still not given Navalny’s mother or lawyers access to his body on Sunday, enraging his backers who had earlier called the Russian state “killers” trying to “cover their tracks.”
Putin has not commented on the death of his most vocal critic and the Kremlin has not said anything since Friday evening when it criticised Western leaders for saying they held Putin responsible.
Tributes to Navalny, who narrowly survived a poisoning attack in 2020 only to fly back to Russia months later knowing he would be jailed, continued to pour in Sunday.
“Alexei Navalny wanted one very simple thing: for his beloved Russia to be just a normal country,” Leonid Volkov, his chief of staff and one of his closest aides wrote on the X social media site.
“And for this Vladimir Putin killed him. Poisoned, imprisoned, tortured and killed him.”
Troops of Operation ENDURING PEACE, OPEP, in collaboration with the Civilian Joint Task Force, CJTF, have arrested a suspected kidnapper linked to the abduction of a resident in Kauru Local Government Area of Kaduna State.
This was contained in a statement posted on X by the Nigerian Army.
The post identified the suspect as Buba Ali, 30, adding that he was arrested at about 12:45 pm on Sunday, August 9, at Binawa village in Kauru Local Government Area.
According to post, the suspect was arrested during a joint operation conducted by troops of Sector 7 OPEP and members of the CJTF.
It said the suspect was reportedly linked to the kidnapping of Alhaji Tasi, who was abducted in the village.
“Following his arrest, Ali was taken into custody and is currently being interrogated by security personnel.
“The ongoing investigation is focused on obtaining information that could lead to the identification and arrest of other members of the suspected kidnapping gang,” the Army said.
Nigerian ambassador to South Africa, Femi Fani-Kayode, has rejected claims by an Islamic scholar, Sheikh Yahaya Jingir, that Nigeria is a Muslim country.
In a viral video, Sheikh Jingir, who was preaching to Muslims at an event, said “if you don’t want to accept a Muslim-Muslim ticket, you should leave Nigeria because it belongs to us”.
The comment has continued to generate backlash online as Christians rejected the claim.
Reacting, Fani-kayode in a statement posted on his official X handle on Sunday night, said the cleric’s remark is unhelpful and untrue.
“Worse of all is the fact that it is highly provocative,” the former aviation minister said.
“Kindly take note that it is a very slippery and dangerous slope to take and is best avoided. Nigeria is NOT a Muslim country and neither is she a Christian country.
“She is a SECULAR and MULTI-RELIGIOUS state comprising BOTH Christians and Muslims in equal numbers and that is our strength,” FFK added.
He further stated that President Bola Tinubu’s Muslim/Muslim ticket for 2027 is gaining acceptance “only because of the calibre, ability, sincerity of purpose, character, utility and electoral strength of our Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates and their ability to deliver and not because they are Muslims”.
“One day we may have a Christian/Christian ticket too because with God all things are possible,” he added.
The Osun State Police Command has confirmed the release of the state Commissioner for Environment and Sanitation, Moyowa Adejoorin, who was arrested in connection with a shooting incident at an All Progressives Congress, APC, rally in Ilesa.
The incident occurred on Saturday and reportedly left four people injured, including a teenager identified as Tobi Ilesanmi.
The command’s spokesperson, DSP Abiodun Ojelabi, said Adejoorin was taken into custody after police officers arrived at the scene, secured the area and began collecting evidence.
According to Ojelabi, the commissioner’s vehicle was stopped at the location, where an Amotekun operative allegedly linked to the shooting was also found.
“Immediately the incident was reported, our personnel moved to the scene and cordoned off the area before some exhibits were recovered, which included expended cartridges and Amotekun personnel caps.
“Also, Mr Adejoorin was arrested at the scene and taken to the command for questioning as part of the investigation process,” Ojelabi said.
The development came amid heightened attention to the incident after a video circulated on social media on Sunday showing Adejoorin leaving the police command.
Confirming the development, Ojelabi told Vanguard that the commissioner had been released on bail but said he was still awaiting clarification on the status of the Amotekun operative who was arrested alongside him.
“It is true that the commissioner has been released on bail today, but I am yet to clear the situation with the Amotekun personnel arrested with him,” he said.
Police investigations into the circumstances surrounding the shooting are ongoing.
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