1,000 people across Russia have been detained who took to streets to participate in rallies opposing the judicial detention of Navalny
Russian police have detained 1,000 people across Russia who took to streets to participate in rallies, opposing the judicial detention of Kremlin’s critic – Alexei Navalny.
Navalny’s wife – Yulia Navalnaya was also arrested on the sidelines of the protest. Navalny was arrested on Sunday, January 17, 2021, immediately after his flight from Germany landed at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport.
He was returning after a period of 5 months, after getting treated in Germany for alleged poisoning with a chemical nerve agent from the Novichok group, which he says was given to him on the orders of Russian President – Putin.
Post detention, he faced an unexpected hearing where a judge ordered Navalny to remain in custody for 30 days ahead of a court hearing to determine whether he had violated the terms of his suspended sentence in a 2014 embezzlement case, which he claims was politically motivated.
Navalny had called on his supporters to protest against Putin for his detention. Meanwhile, the authorities had warned people to stay away from protests as Coronavirus (COVID-19) is still very much active. The authorities also said that protestors run the risk of prosecution and a jail term.
Despite this warning, the demonstrations kicked off in Russia’s far east city of Vladivostok and spread to the West as the day progressed. More than 40,000 people had gathered in one of the biggest unauthorised rallies for years. In one of the videos from Vladivostok, Russian police can be seen chasing a group of protesters down the street. Demonstrators in Khabarovsk, chanted “Shame!” and “Bandits!” in -140C temperature. In the Siberian city of Yakutsk, where the temperature was -520C, the police dragged a protestor by his arms and legs and put him into a van.
Posting a video of demonstrators, a New York Times journalist – Ivan Nechepurenko tweeted,
Lots and lots of people on sidewalks of Tverskaya, leading to Pushkinskaya square and the Kremlin. This must be the biggest anti-Putin rally in years. People are enraged. pic.twitter.com/dN4bXE5fZh
— Ivan Nechepurenko (@INechepurenko) January 23, 2021
He further tweeted,
People are now spreading around the city center, being pushed off Pushkinskaya, the main site of the rally. pic.twitter.com/I3dgZ4f4wV
— Ivan Nechepurenko (@INechepurenko) January 23, 2021
In Moscow, the police had put up barricades around Pushkinskaya Square as workers engaged in re-tiling it. OVD-Info, an independent media project on human rights and political persecutions in Russia, said that 1,090 people, including 300 in Moscow and 162 in St. Petersburg, had been detained across Russia.
The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has accused the United States of encouraging the protests after the U.S. Embassy in Russia posted an alert on its website asking U.S. citizens to avoid the demonstrations. Although the USA, UK and EU nations including Germany and Italy have earlier demanded the release of Navalny.
Under Russian law, an official appeal for approval of a protest has to be made to local authorities at least 10 days before the event. Navalny was only arrested less than a week ago, so the organizers had insufficient time to launch an appeal.
As per the charges on Navalny, he was found guilty of fraud after he and his brother Oleg were accused of stealing 30 million Rubles (U.S. $ 540,000) from a Russian subsidiary of French cosmetics company – Yves Rocher. While Navalny was given a suspended sentence, his brother was jailed. Navalny’s case will be heard on January 29, 2021. If proved guilty, Navalny will likely be jailed for 3.5 years. If Navalny is not convicted, he will still face an investigation for a newer fraud case, in which he and his Anti-Corruption Foundation have been accused of misusing donations from supporters.
