Scuffles break out as Navalny supporters gather to protest his arrest

Navalny's associates in Moscow and other regions have been detained in the lead-up to the rallies. Opposition supporters and independent journalists have been approached by police officers with official warnings against protesting.

Khabarovsk: Scuffles broke out as supporters of jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny gathered in Khabarovsk on Saturday, despite authorities in Russia taking elaborate measures to curb the pro-Navalny protests planned in more than 60 Russian cities.

Universities and colleges in different Russian regions have urged students not to attend rallies, with some saying they may be subject to disciplinary action, including expulsion.

Navalny, an anti-corruption campaigner and Kremlin’s fiercest critic, was arrested Sunday when he returned to Russia from Germany, where he had spent nearly five months recovering from nerve-agent poisoning that he blames on the Kremlin. On Monday, a judge ordered Navalny jailed for 30 days.

He faces a years-long prison term - authorities accused him of violating the terms of a suspended sentence in a 2014 conviction for financial misdeeds, including when he was convalescing in Germany.

AP

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