Russian opponent Alexey Navalny on the plane to Moscow.

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KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP

Imprisoned since his return to Russia on January 17, the opponent Alexeï Navalny will remain in detention, a Russian court ruled on Thursday, three days before new protests against power are planned across the country.

"The decision on the extension of the period of detention until February 15 remains unchanged," said Judge Moussa Moussaïev of the court in Krasnogorsk, near Moscow, according to a journalist on the spot.

"The judges here are only obedient slaves"

Alexeï Navalny, who attended the hearing by videoconference from his detention center, denounced a "demonstrative violation of the law", an "arbitrary" intended to "intimidate" and "intimidate everyone".

"The judges here are just obedient slaves to those people who have stolen our country, who have stolen from us for 20 years and who want to silence people like me," he said.

Her lawyer Olga Mikhaïlova announced to journalists that she would appeal this decision, while saying she was "without any particular hope".

She considered that these legal proceedings were aimed at "excluding from the political life of the country" her client.

Anti-corruption activist and sworn enemy of the Kremlin, Alexeï Navalny has been the target of multiple court cases since his return to Russia on January 17 after months of convalescence in Germany for an alleged poisoning for which he accuses President Vladimir Putin of being responsible.

Opponent faces more than two years in prison

According to his lawyer, the opponent risks including "about two and a half years" in prison for violating the terms of a three-and-a-half-year suspended sentence imposed in 2014.

Several of his relatives, including his brother Oleg and his ally Lioubov Sobol, were detained for 48 hours on Thursday for "violation of health standards" during unauthorized demonstrations last Saturday.

Alexey Navalny's team called for new gatherings next Sunday.

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