Moscow (AFP)
Russian opposition journalist and municipal deputy Ilia Azar was released on Sunday after spending 10 days in prison for a solitary demonstration in Moscow, which had sparked protests.
"Thank you all for your support, but the main thing is to support our right to peaceful protest," said Azar, a journalist with the opposition newspaper Novaïa Gazeta, on his Facebook page. "Unfortunately, things have gotten worse with regard to this right," he added.
Ilia Azar, 35, was arrested in May for demonstrating alone in support of a former police officer, Vladimir Vorontsov, known for his work on law enforcement violations but charged with charges that he claims mounted from scratch.
Single-handed protests are a common form of protest in Russia, as they do not require prior authorization and are therefore not usually suppressed.
The police considered, however, in the case of Ilia Azar, that he had violated the ban on demonstrations during the containment against the pandemic of the new coronavirus in force in Moscow.
His conviction by a court to 15 days in prison, then reduced to 10 days, had provoked protests from his colleagues and supporters, several dozen of whom had been briefly arrested over several days.
His conviction was denounced by the NGO Amnesty international and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
Last summer, Azar participated in the organization of a series of anti-government rallies in Moscow, demanding fair elections, in which tens of thousands of people participated.
© 2020 AFP