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Tens of thousands of Russians responded to Navaln’s call to take to the streets after he was arrested at the Moscow airport on January 17 after returning from Germany, where he was being treated for several months after being poisoned with Novičiok. . The opposition said the attack on his life was organized by the Kremlin.
Washington and Brussels have condemned the arrests of protesters and other tactics used against protesters, and European Union (EU) foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has said the bloc will consider “next steps” on Monday.
Saturday’s protests took on unprecedented geographic proportions, and protesters took to the streets in more than 100 cities. Previous large-scale opposition demonstrations, which took place in 2012 and 2019, took place mainly in Moscow.
The new protests are also seen as a test of whether the opposition will be able to mobilize its supporters before this year’s parliamentary elections, although the Kremlin is increasing pressure on its critics.
“Criminals who wear uniforms protect criminals in power,” Vera Spivakova, a 71-year-old retiree, told AFP in Moscow.
“Putin and the oligarchs are afraid of losing their point,” he added.
“Unprecedented protests”
According to the website OVD-Info, which collects information on arrests during political protests in Russia, more than 2.5,000 people were arrested during protests in the country’s cities. people, including more than 950, in Moscow.
Among those detained in Moscow were Navaln’s wife, Julia Navalnaya, who was later released, and the famous activist Liubov Sobol. In addition, several of Navaln’s colleagues were fined and arrested on the eve of the protest.
Borrell condemned the “universal detentions” and the “disproportionate use of force.”
Meanwhile, US State Department spokesman Ned Price said Washington “strongly condemns the use of rude tactics against protesters and journalists.”
A. Arrest of Navalnas and more than 2.5 thousand. the arrest of his supporters is “a worrying sign of even greater restrictions on civil society and fundamental freedoms,” he added.
Canada also expressed “deep concern” and called on Moscow to “release” the detainees immediately.
Leonid Volkov, head of Navalno’s regional network, estimated that some 300,000 people joined the “unprecedented” protests across the country. people, and called for protests to be held again next weekend.
AFP journalists estimated that some 20,000 people participated in the protests in Moscow. people, and in St. Petersburg – more than 10 thousand.
Western countries have strongly condemned Navaln’s arrest, and the US embassy in Moscow on Saturday accused Russian authorities of violating the right of protesters to protest peacefully.
Moscow retaliated by accusing US diplomats of announcing planned protest routes and spreading information about the “Kremlin march.”
“Colleagues from the United States will have to provide explanations,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova wrote on Facebook.
“Tired of Putin”
Early Saturday, thousands of people gathered in cities in the Far East, Siberia and the Urals, despite police warnings about the use of force and high pressure in some places.
In St. Petersburg, where the police detained nearly 300 protesters, Alexei Skvortsov, 20, told an AFP reporter that he no longer wanted to live in a “dictatorship.”
“People are tired of Putin,” he said.
On Monday, an emergency court arrested Navalns for 30 days for allegedly violating the terms of a probation sentence in a criminal case that the politician said was illegal.
A court is scheduled to be held in early February to decide whether Navaln will have to serve a three-and-a-half-year prison sentence.
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