MOSCOW: Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was released from jail Sunday after three weeks behind bars for organizing anti-Kremlin protests, his second spell in detention in as many months.
The 42-year-old activist left a detention center in the south of Moscow in the early hours of the morning and went to a waiting car, an AFP journalist at the scene said.
Authorities have turned up the heat on Vladimir Putin’s top foe since the Russian president’s approval ratings took a beating over deeply unpopular pension reforms.
The Kremlin critic finished a 30-day sentence in September for organizing a rally at the start of the year, but was arrested as soon as he was released to face further charges over another protest.
The latter demonstration, against the raising of the retirement age, was time to coincide with regional elections last month.
The Kremlin suffered rare defeats in those polls, with voters rejecting candidates from the ruling United Russia party in at least two regions.
A run-off in the far eastern Primorsky Krai will be held again in two months after accusations of vote-rigging in favor of the Moscow-backed candidate led to protests.
Navalny ally Leonid Volkov said at the time of the latest arrest that the Kremlin had “to take it out on someone because of all their defeats and failures of the last weeks.”
Supporters fear that the two consecutive administrative cases mean the authorities may be getting ready to open a criminal probe against Navalny.
In that case he could face a lengthy prison term.
Amnesty International described Navalny as a prisoner of conscience and said he had committed no crime.
Navalny came to prominence as an organizer of huge anti-Putin rallies that shook Russia in 2011 and 2012 following accusations of vote-rigging in parliamentary polls.
His anti-corruption rhetoric is especially popular with younger people who follow his online channels and blogs.
Since his most recent jail term his 17-year-old daughter, Daria, has launched her own Youtube show called “Voice of My Generation.”
Navalny was barred from running against Putin in a presidential election in March.
He served a month in prison in the summer after organizing demonstrations ahead of Putin’s swearing-in ceremony for a fourth Kremlin term.
The Yale-educated lawyer has faced a string of charges and attacks since he became the leading opposition figure in Russia.
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Putin foe Navalny freed from jail after back-to-back sentences
Putin foe Navalny freed from jail after back-to-back sentences
- Navalny was barred from running against Putin in a presidential election in March
- Navalny came to prominence as an organizer of huge anti-Putin rallies that shook Russia in 2011 and 2012
Philippine volcano eruption sends ash 2.5 kilometers into sky
- Kanlaon Volcano, one of 24 active volcanoes in the archipelago nation, has had several major eruptions in the past century
- A 1996 blast killed three hikers who were near the summit at the time
MANILA: A volcano erupted in the central Philippines on Thursday evening, sending a billowing plume of ash about 2,500 meters (1.5 miles) into the nighttime sky.
The two-minute eruption began at 7:04 p.m. (1104 GMT), state volcanology agency director Teresito Bacolcol said, saying “there might be a bigger explosive eruption in the next few days.”
Kanlaon Volcano, one of 24 active volcanoes in the archipelago nation, has had several major eruptions in the past century — including a 1996 blast that killed three hikers who were near the summit at the time.
“This is the second moderate eruption in a week,” Bacolcol said in a phone interview, adding his agency would monitor the volcano for 24 hours before deciding if it should raise the alert level from two to three on its five-point scale.
“This event generated a plume that rose 2,500 meters above the crater before drifting southwest. Incandescent ballistics were observed to have rained around the crater,” the volcanology center said in a statement released minutes later.
John De Asis, a rescuer in the nearby town of La Castellana, said that ash had begun to descend on local neighborhoods.
“Tonight, we heard a sudden, loud boom, then after a few minutes, people started reporting that there was ashfall in their areas,” he said, noting that rescue personnel were handing out facemasks.
Bacolcol said it was possible that “gas pressure had built up at the vent” of the volcano. He said recent low sulfur dioxide emissions suggested a potential blockage that would have caused pressure to build.
The volcano, which straddles Negros Oriental and Occidental provinces, currently has a four-kilometer exclusion zone in place.
The Philippines is on the seismically active region of the Pacific known as the “Ring of Fire,” where more than half the world’s volcanoes are located.
The most powerful volcanic explosion in the Philippines in recent years was the 1991 eruption of Pinatubo, about 100 kilometers (62 miles) from Manila, which killed more than 800 people.
The two-minute eruption began at 7:04 p.m. (1104 GMT), state volcanology agency director Teresito Bacolcol said, saying “there might be a bigger explosive eruption in the next few days.”
Kanlaon Volcano, one of 24 active volcanoes in the archipelago nation, has had several major eruptions in the past century — including a 1996 blast that killed three hikers who were near the summit at the time.
“This is the second moderate eruption in a week,” Bacolcol said in a phone interview, adding his agency would monitor the volcano for 24 hours before deciding if it should raise the alert level from two to three on its five-point scale.
“This event generated a plume that rose 2,500 meters above the crater before drifting southwest. Incandescent ballistics were observed to have rained around the crater,” the volcanology center said in a statement released minutes later.
John De Asis, a rescuer in the nearby town of La Castellana, said that ash had begun to descend on local neighborhoods.
“Tonight, we heard a sudden, loud boom, then after a few minutes, people started reporting that there was ashfall in their areas,” he said, noting that rescue personnel were handing out facemasks.
Bacolcol said it was possible that “gas pressure had built up at the vent” of the volcano. He said recent low sulfur dioxide emissions suggested a potential blockage that would have caused pressure to build.
The volcano, which straddles Negros Oriental and Occidental provinces, currently has a four-kilometer exclusion zone in place.
The Philippines is on the seismically active region of the Pacific known as the “Ring of Fire,” where more than half the world’s volcanoes are located.
The most powerful volcanic explosion in the Philippines in recent years was the 1991 eruption of Pinatubo, about 100 kilometers (62 miles) from Manila, which killed more than 800 people.
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