[ad_1]
For the second weekend in a row, protesters gathered in the streets to express their support for the jailed opposition leader Alexei Navaln. This Sunday, OMON and militia officials detained more than 5,000 people in 85 Russian cities, the most since 2011.
In Moscow alone, 1,600 people were arrested, including Navaln’s wife, Julia, who was later released. Foreign television showed people being randomly arrested just for being in a place where peaceful crowds were gathering.
The Russian capital on Sunday was like a fortress, the cordon followed the cordon, the city center was completely blocked, the subway stations closed. Organizers of the protests constantly changed meeting places, forcing riot police to follow the marching columns of protesters each time.
The independent monitoring group OVD Info reported that more than 5.3 thousand people were detained across the country. people, including nearly 1.8 thousand. In Moscow and almost 1.2 thousand. St. Petersburg.
The protests, during which officials took an unusual step and blocked central Moscow, preceded a planned court hearing during which Navaln could be jailed for several years.
The 44-year-old opponent is accused of violating the terms of a suspended sentence imposed in 2014 and could be jailed for a year and a half.
On Monday, the Attorney General’s Office announced its support for the prison service’s request to replace Navaln’s probation with a real custodial sentence.
“This proposal is considered legitimate and justified,” the statement said.
A. Navaln himself has been in prison since January 17, when he returned to Russia from Germany. A Russian dissident spent several months in Germany. There he was treated after a failed attempt to poison him with a powerful nerve paralyzing poison.
Navaln has accused Vladimir Putin of trying to kill him, but the Kremlin has denied the accusations. Navaln’s dramatic return to his homeland, when there was no question that he would be arrested, is obviously of great concern to Vladimir Putin, who has dominated the Russian political arena for more than two decades.
It is strictly prohibited to use the information published by DELFI on other websites, in the media or elsewhere, or to distribute our material in any way without consent, and if consent has been obtained, it is necessary to indicate DELFI as the source. .
[ad_2]
