Navalny’s allies put under house arrest

A court in Moscow on Friday put the brother and several allies of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny under house arrest for two months as authorities sought to stymie more protests over the jailing of the top Kremlin foe.

Navalny’s supporters called for rallies Sunday to demand his release. Tens of thousands of people demonstrated across Russia last weekend to protest his Jan. 17 arrest and 30-day detention.

The 44-year-old Navalny, an anti-corruption investigator and the best-known critic of President Vladimir Putin’s government, was arrested upon returning from Germany, where he spent five months recovering from nerve-agent poisoning that he blames on the Kremlin. Russian authorities have rejected the accusations.

Navalny was jailed for 30 days after Russia’s prison service alleged he had violated the probation terms of his suspended sentence from a 2014 money laundering conviction that he has rejected as politically motivated.

On Thursday, the court rejected his appeal to be released, and another hearing next week could turn his 3 ½-year suspended sentence into one he must serve in prison.