MOSCOW (AP) — A court in Chechnya has ruled to keep a human rights activist in custody despite international criticism of his arrest.

The court in the central town of Shali ruled Monday that Oyub Titiyev should stay behind bars pending his trial set to start next week.

Titiyev, the head of Chechnya's branch of Russian human rights group Memorial, was arrested in January on drug possession charges, which Memorial described as sham.

Chechnya's regional leader, Ramzan Kadyrov, rejected the criticism, saying Titiyev's arrest was in line with the law.

Memorial head Oleg Orlov and Svetlana Gannushkina, another prominent Russian rights defender, were detained by police in Moscow when they picketed in Titiyev's support.