TODAY: Pussy Riot will remain in jail; picket in support of band set upon by Orthodox protestors; four demonstrators arrested in Moscow heritage protest; Siberian netizen charged with extremism; Sochi says no to gay rights.  Alexei Navalny lay out plans for galvanizing protest movement; Medvedev contemplates meritocracy; just 44% of Russians say they trust March 4 election poll.   Lavrov mulls US use of Russian air base; Clinton asks Moscow for Iran warning.  Pop and politics.

Russia has refused to release two members of all-girl punk rock band Pussy Riot, who face up to seven years in jail on charges of hooliganism, from pre-trial detention following their protest concert in a Moscow cathedral.  RFE/RL has a video of the band’s supporters being harangued by Orthodox believers outside the court.  A physical altercation between the two brigades resulted in the arrest of three of the band’s supporters and one anti-band demonstrator.  Four demonstrators have been arrested in Moscow for attempting to obstruct work on a construction project on Kozikhinsky Pereulok.  Beleaguered environmental activist Suryen Gazaryan and his lawyer have been arrested and allegedly assaulted by guards, over their attempts to gain photographic evidence of a mansion which they believe to be the dacha of the regional governor.  An internet user from Siberia has been charged with extremism over a video posted on VKontatke more than a year ago of inebriated Russians, entitled “The Whole Truth About Russians”.  A Sochi appeals court has upheld a lower court ruling denying registration to Pride House, a local gay movement, on the basis that it undermines ‘public morals’.  The head of the district police department in the Volga Republic of Tatarstan, where a detainee died in custody after officers allegedly sodomized him with a bottle, has been fired.