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Police officers lead away a demonstrator in Moscow. Her poster reads "Happy Birthday Alexej"
Photograph:
Dmitry Serebryakov / dpa
On the occasion of the 47th birthday of the imprisoned Kremlin opponent Alexei Navalny, people in Russia and various other countries have demonstrated for his release. Navalny's spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh published photos on Twitter from Japan, Australia and Georgia, among others. A rally was also announced in Berlin. In Russian cities, isolated people lined up with posters in public places – and were immediately arrested, according to civil rights activists.
Navalny said he was in a good mood, although of course he would rather be with his family than in a prison camp 260 kilometers northeast of Moscow. "But the way life works is that social progress and a better future can only be achieved if a certain number of people are willing to pay the price for their right to their beliefs," he wrote. "And surely the day will come when speaking the truth and standing up for justice will be something commonplace and safe in Russia."
The most prominent critic of Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin has been in prison as a political prisoner for more than two years for alleged fraud. He has so far been sentenced to nine years in prison. In a new trial that will begin soon, he faces up to 30 more years. In 2020, Navalny narrowly survived an attack with the nerve agent Novichok, for which the Russian state is blamed in the West. For months, he has been put almost continuously in a two-by-three-meter isolation cell. Human rights activists speak of torture.
atb/dpa