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MOSCOW: Chanting slogans against President Vladimir Putin, thousands of people took to the streets on Sunday (January 31) across the vast expanse of Russia to demand the release of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny, sustaining the national protests that have rocked the Kremlin . More than 4,000 people were detained by the police, according to a monitoring group.
Russian authorities made a massive effort to stem the tide of demonstrations after tens of thousands demonstrated across the country last weekend in the largest and most widespread show of discontent Russia has seen in years. However, despite threats of jail time, warnings to social media groups and strict police cordons, the protests hit many cities again on Sunday.
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Navalny, 44, an anti-corruption investigator who is President Vladimir Putin’s best known critic, was arrested on January 17 upon his return from Germany, where he spent five months recovering from nerve agent poisoning he blames. the Kremlin. The Russian authorities have rejected the accusations.
In Moscow, authorities introduced unprecedented security measures in the city center, closing metro stations near the Kremlin, cutting off bus traffic and ordering restaurants and shops to remain closed.
Police detain a woman during a protest against the imprisonment of opposition leader Alexei Navalny in Vladivostok, Russia, on January 31, 2021. (Photo: AP / Aleksander Khitrov)
Navalny’s team initially called for Sunday’s protest to be held in Moscow’s Lubyanka Square, home to the headquarters of the Federal Security Service, which Navalny claims was responsible for his poisoning.
After the police cordoned off the area around the plaza, the protest moved to another central plaza a mile away. The police deployed forces there too, picking up people at random and putting them on police buses.
Police officers are seen in the central square of Vladivostok, Russia, on January 31, 2021. (Photo: AP / Aleksander Khitrov)
But hundreds more people marched through the city center shouting “Putin, resign!”. and “Putin, thief!” a reference to an opulent Black Sea estate built for the Russian leader that was featured in a very popular video posted by Navalny’s team.
Some later marched to Matrosskaya Tishina Prison, where Navalny is being held, but were met by phalanxes of riot police who pursued them and detained scores.
More than 800 were arrested in Moscow, including Navalny’s wife, Yulia, who joined the protest.
READ: Navalny defiant when the Russian court rejects his bid for freedom
The city of Novosibirsk in eastern Siberia witnessed one of the largest demonstrations, with several thousand people marching through the city. About 90 protesters were arrested.
An estimated 2,000 marched through Russia’s second-largest city, St. Petersburg, and occasional fights broke out when protesters pushed back police trying to make arrests.
Police detain protesters during a protest against the imprisonment of opposition leader Alexei Navalny in Moscow, Russia, on January 31, 2021 (Photo: AP / Dmitry Serebryakov).
In the port of Vladivostok, in the far east, more than 100 people were arrested after protesters danced on the ice and demonstrated in the city center.
As part of a multi-faceted effort by authorities to block the protests, courts jailed Navalny associates and activists across the country over the past week. His brother Oleg, senior adviser Lyubov Sobol and three other people were subjected to a two-month house arrest on Friday on charges of alleged violation of coronavirus restrictions during protests last weekend.
Prosecutors also demanded that social media platforms block calls to join the protests.
READ: Brother of Kremlin enemy Navalny, allies under house arrest ahead of protests
The Interior Ministry has issued stern warnings to the public not to join the protests, saying that participants could be charged with participating in mass riots, which carry a prison sentence of up to eight years. Those who commit acts of violence against the police could face up to 15 years.
Nearly 4,000 people were reportedly arrested in the January 23 demonstrations calling for Navalny’s release in more than 100 Russian cities, and some received fines and jail time. About 20 were charged with assaulting the police and faced criminal charges.
Police officers detain a man during a protest against the imprisonment of opposition leader Alexei Navalny in Moscow, Russia, on January 31, 2021. (Photo: AP / Alexander Zemlianichenko)
Right after Navalny’s arrest, his team posted a two-hour video on their YouTube channel about the Black Sea residence supposedly built for Putin. The video has been viewed more than 100 million times, helping fuel discontent and inspire a series of sarcastic jokes online amid an economic recession.
Russia has witnessed extensive corruption during Putin’s tenure, even as many ordinary citizens struggle financially.
Protesters in Moscow chanted “Aqua disco!” a reference to one of the luxurious services of the residence that also has a casino and a hookah lounge equipped to watch pole dancing.
A police officer detains a man as protesters try to help him during a protest against the imprisonment of opposition leader Alexei Navalny in St. Petersburg, Russia, on January 31, 2021 (Photo: AP / Valentin Egorshin).
Putin says neither he nor any of his close relatives own the property. On Saturday, construction mogul Arkady Rotenberg, a former Putin confidant and his occasional judo training partner, claimed that he owned the property himself.
Russia has experienced extensive corruption during Putin’s tenure, even as many ordinary citizens struggle financially.
Police officers detain a man during a protest against the imprisonment of opposition leader Alexei Navalny in Vladivostok, Russia, on January 31, 2021 (Photo: AP / Aleksander Khitrov).
Navalny fell into a coma on August 20 while on a domestic flight from Siberia to Moscow. He was transferred to a Berlin hospital two days later. Laboratories in Germany, France, and Sweden, and tests by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, established that he was exposed to the nerve agent Novichok. Russian authorities have refused to open a full-blown criminal investigation, citing a lack of evidence that he was poisoned.
When he returned to Russia in January, Navalny was jailed for 30 days after the Russian prison service alleged he had violated the probation terms of his suspended sentence from a 2014 money laundering conviction that he rejected as political revenge.
On Thursday, a Moscow court rejected his appeal to be released, and another hearing next week could turn his suspended 3.5-year sentence into one he must serve in prison.
