Investigations and arrests in Russia before the pro-Navalny demonstrations

Searches in areas associated with the imprisoned opposition Alexei Navalny, mainly in St. Petersburg, the Russian police did today and arrested several of his supporters, as announced by members of his group before the demonstrations in support of him scheduled for today.

According to a post by lawyer Vladimir Voronin on Twitter, police arrested Lyubov Sombol, a figure in the Navalny movement who is on a hunger strike and is being treated in a prison hospital.

“The police have launched an interception plan and they took Lyubov Sombol out of the taxi he was in. He said he was arrested by several plainclothes police officers. We do not know where they are transporting her “, he wrote, as broadcast by AMPE.

Navalny’s representative, Keira Yarmis, was also arrested in front of her apartment building, another lawyer, Veronika Poliakova, said on Twitter in a message shared on Yarmis’s account.

According to the specialized non-governmental organization OVD-Info, raids took place in at least 20 Russian cities yesterday, Tuesday, and today, including St. Petersburg, the second largest city in the country where the largest opposition demonstrations are usually held after Moscow.

Demonstrations in support of Alexei Navalny, scheduled for today, will take place on the same day as the Russian president’s long annual speech Vladimir Putin on the Situation of the Nation before the Two Houses of the Russian Parliament.

The previous protest movement, following Navalny’s arrest in January, had led to more than 11,000 arrests.

Next week, a Moscow court is expected to begin considering a request by the prosecutor’s office to label opposition-affiliated organizations as “extremist”, putting all their supporters at risk of long prison terms.

(file photo)