[ad_1]
Police arrested several Navalnas supporters in the center of the capital before 2 pm a demonstration to start at local time (1 pm Their participants plan to march through the streets of Moscow towards the Kremlin.
According to the Interfax news agency, when several dozen people, mostly young people, gathered in Pushkin Square, the police took more than 10 of them to their vans.
Putin’s most active critic, who called for mass protests, returned to Moscow last weekend after spending several months in Germany, where he was treated with Novičiok, a nerve paralyzing substance after poisoning. He was arrested at the Sheremetyevo airport and taken to a detention center.
The planned protests in ten cities are expected to be the biggest test of the opposition’s ability to mobilize people in Russia, despite mounting pressure from the Kremlin on critics and a coronavirus pandemic.
In preparation for the demonstrations, Navaln’s team published a report on YouTube analyzing an investigation into Putin’s luxury resort on the Black Sea coast.
More than 200 people were detained during demonstrations in about 30 cities, according to the OVD-Info website, which collects information on arrests during political protests in Russia.
The authorities have vowed to fight hard and use the police, saying that unauthorized public events will be “suppressed immediately”.
As the protests approached, several of Navaln’s key aides were arrested for violating protest laws; They were given short prison terms to prevent them from attending the rallies.
A commission of inquiry investigating serious crimes announced on Friday that it had launched a criminal investigation into incitement to participate in illegal protests.
An emergency court jailed Navalnas for 30 days on Monday, and his supporters fear authorities plan to impose a lengthy prison sentence on the opposition to silence him.
Russia’s media watchdog Roskomnadzor warned internet platforms not to encourage minors to participate in protests and threatened heavy fines.
On Friday, the service announced that media platforms, including TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram, have removed some of the content.
Russia’s most popular social network, VKontakte, has blocked groups created to coordinate protests in different cities.
However, several public figures, including those who generally avoid politics, spoke in support of Mr. Navalna.
Navaln, 44, became famous a decade ago and has since become a key figure in the Russian opposition movement, capable of mobilizing large-scale street protests against corruption and electoral fraud.
His arrest was the subject of strong Western condemnation and the United States, the European Union, France and Canada called for the release of the opposition.
It is not allowed to publish, quote or reproduce the information of the BNS news agency in the media and on websites without the written consent of the UAB “BNS”.
[ad_2]
