Several dozen people were arrested in Russia on Saturday during protests to demand the release of the opponent Alexeï Navalny. From Moscow to Vladivostok, the anti-corruption activist’s team had published calls for a rally in 65 cities across the country. The first protests took place on Saturday in the Russian Far East, where several thousand people took to the streets in Vladivostok and Khabarovsk. Large police forces were deployed in front of the demonstrators, according to supporters of Alexei Navalny.
About 50 protesters were arrested in ten Russian cities at around 6.30 a.m. GMT, according to the NGO OVD-info, which specializes in monitoring arrests on the sidelines of demonstrations. In the capital, where opposition mobilization is usually strongest, protesters are scheduled to meet at 2 p.m. (11 a.m. GMT) in Pushkin Square. 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. On Instagram, Mr. Navalny’s wife, Yulia Navalnaïa, nevertheless announced her intention to demonstrate in Moscow for her husband who “never gives up”.
Fear of mass arrests
As authorities have not authorized these gatherings, protesters across Russia face brutal arrests and prosecution. Previous large opposition rallies in Moscow in the summer of 2019 led to thousands of arrests of peaceful protesters. Several of them had been sentenced to heavy prison terms for alleged “violence” against the police. As in 2019, the Russian police arrested this week, ahead of the mobilisations, leading allies of Alexei Navalny, two of whom were sentenced to short prison terms on Friday.
In the region, several coordinators of his movement were arrested after calling for demonstrations on Saturday. 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. Knowing that he risked prison, Alexeï Navalny had chosen to return to Russia with his wife.
Pressure on TikTok and YouTube
As soon as Alexei Navalny was arrested, condemned by the Western powers, his supporters, but also less politicized Russian celebrities, called for demonstrations for his release. Thousands of calls for protest were relayed this week on social networks, where the opponent enjoys high visibility, while he is largely ignored by the main Russian state media. To limit these calls to protest, the Russian telecommunications gendarme Roskomnadzor threatened with fines the platforms TikTok and Vkontakte (VK), the Russian equivalent of Facebook.
According to Roskomnadzor, these two social networks, but also YouTube, owned by Google, have since deleted some of the messages concerned. While an investigation was opened for “inciting illegal acts with minors”, the Ministry of Education, meanwhile, called on parents to “prevent” their children from joining demonstrations. Using its weapon of choice, Alexeï Navalny’s team tried to galvanize its troops by publishing on Tuesday a resounding investigation into a sumptuous property which would benefit President Vladimir Putin.
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