Russia: police multiply arrests of pro-Navalny demonstrators
Russian police arrest a protester during the rally for imprisoned opponent Alexei Navalny, in Moscow on January 23, 2021. AFP - NATALIA KOLESNIKOVA
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Dozens of people were arrested this Saturday, January 23 in Russia on the sidelines of demonstrations organized across the country at the call of supporters of the opponent Alexeï Navalny to demand his release, despite multiple pressures from the authorities.
From Moscow to Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, the team of the famous anti-corruption activist, the victim of suspected poisoning this summer, has issued calls for a rally in 65 Russian cities.
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The first demonstrations took place this Saturday in the Russian Far East and in Siberia, where thousands of people took to the streets, notably in Vladivostok, Khabarovsk, Novosibirsk and Chita, according to supporters of Alexey Navalny, chanting "
Freedom to Navalny!
","
Freedom to political prisoners!
», In the face of large numbers of riot police deployed on the scene.
In Yakutsk, south of the Polar Circle, a hundred protesters braved the extreme cold by demonstrating in - 50 degrees.
About 200 protesters had already been arrested in twenty Russian cities around 8:30 am UT, according to the NGO OVD-info, specializing in monitoring arrests on the sidelines of demonstrations.
Brutal arrests
The arrests were particularly brutal in Vladivostok, a Russian port on the Pacific Ocean.
Riot police ran behind the protesters and hit them with sticks.
In Moscow, where opposition mobilization is usually strongest, protesters are scheduled to meet at 11:00 UTC in Pushkin Square, then march along a central street in the capital towards the Kremlin.
Moscow police have already promised to “
repress without delay
” any unauthorized gathering.
The mayor of Moscow, Sergei Sobyanin, denounced the “
unacceptable
”
demonstrations
in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.
The authorities not having authorized these gatherings, the protesters all over Russia face legal action.
Condemned Navalny allies
The Russian police have already arrested this week, ahead of the mobilizations, leading allies of Alexeï Navalny, two of whom were sentenced to short prison terms on Friday.
Placed in detention until at least February 15 and targeted by several legal proceedings, Alexeï Navalny, 44, was arrested last Sunday, upon his return from Germany, after five months of convalescence.
At the end of August, he fell seriously ill in Siberia and was hospitalized urgently in Berlin, victim, according to him, of poisoning of the Russian secret services with a nerve agent.
Three European laboratories had also concluded with poisoning, which Moscow firmly denies, denouncing a plot.
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To read also: Russia: Alexeï Navalny denounces a personal enrichment of Vladimir Putin
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Russia
Alexei Navalny
Vladimir Poutine
Human rights
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