MOSCOW (AP) – Russian authorities have taken elaborate measures to contain protests against the arrest of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, planned by his supporters for Saturday in more than 60 Russian cities.
Navalny’s associates in Moscow and other regions were detained before the rallies. Opposition supporters and independent journalists were approached by police officers with official warnings against protests.
Universities and colleges in different regions of Russia have asked students not to attend the rallies, with some saying that they may be subject to disciplinary action, including expulsion.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that “there are natural warnings … about the possible consequences related to non-compliance with the law”, as there are calls for “unauthorized and illegal events” .
Navalny, an anti-corruption activist and the Kremlin’s fiercest critic, was arrested on Sunday when he returned from Germany to Russia, where he spent almost five months recovering from poisoning by a nervous agent that he attributes to the Kremlin. On Monday, a judge ordered Navalny to be jailed for 30 days.
He faces a prison term of years – authorities have accused him of violating the terms of a suspended sentence in a 2014 conviction for financial offenses, including when he was convalescing in Germany.
Navalny’s supporters called for national demonstrations on Saturday to pressure the government to release the politician, but they themselves came under pressure.
On Thursday night, Moscow police arrested three important Navalny associates. On Friday, her spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh was sentenced to nine days in prison, and Georgy Alburov was jailed for 10 days. Lyubov Sobol, a close ally of Navalny, was released Thursday night, but sentenced by a court on Friday to pay a fine equivalent to $ 3,300. All three were accused of violating protest regulations.
More than a dozen Navalny activists and allies in various regions of Russia were also arrested.
The Russian attorney general’s office and the police issued public warnings against the participation or convening of unauthorized rallies. Prosecutors also demanded that Roskomnadzor, the Russian media and internet agency, restrict access to sites that contain calls to protest on Saturday.
On Friday, Russia’s largest social network, VKontakte, blocked all pages dedicated to rallies.
Roskomnadzor also announced that it would fine social media companies for encouraging minors to participate in the protests. The shift came amid media reports of calls to demonstrations – and videos of students replacing portraits of President Vladimir Putin in their classrooms with that of Navalny – going viral among teenagers on the social network TikTok.
The Russian Ministry of Education issued a statement urging parents to “protect” their children from Saturday’s events, stating that “no one has the right to drag young people into various political actions and provocations”.
And the Investigative Committee opened a criminal investigation into the “involvement of minors in illegal activities”, accusing Navalny’s unidentified supporters of encouraging minors to participate in social media rallies.
Also on Friday, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin asked Muscovites not to attend the rally, in a video statement broadcast on the TV channel Moskva24. Sobyanin cited concerns about the coronavirus, called the next demonstration “illegal” and said “law enforcement agencies will ensure the necessary order in the city”.
Navalny’s allies are telling supporters not to get discouraged and show up on Saturday.
“Have no fear. Leave it to the Kremlin. We are right and we are the majority, ”wrote Lyubov Sobol in a Facebook post.
Dozens of influential Russians, including popular actors, musicians, journalists, writers, athletes and bloggers, made statements in support of Navalny, and some promised to attend the demonstrations.