MOSCOW (AP) – Moscow has prepared for more protests seeking the release of imprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who faces an audience on Tuesday after two weekends of rallies across the country and thousands of arrests in the biggest outbreak of discontent in Russia in years.
Tens of thousands filled the streets across the vast country on Sunday, shouting slogans against President Vladimir Putin and demanding freedom for Navalny, who was arrested last month and faces years in prison. More than 5,400 protesters were detained by the authorities, according to a human rights group.
One of those arrested for several hours was Navalny’s wife, Yulia, who was sentenced on Monday to pay a fine of about $ 265 for participating in an unauthorized demonstration.
Although state media considered the demonstrations small and claimed that they showed the opposition’s failure, Navalny’s team said the participation showed “overwhelming national support” for the Kremlin’s fiercest critic. His allies asked the protesters to go to the Moscow court on Tuesday.
“Without your help, we will not be able to resist the illegality of the authorities,” said his politician’s team in a post on social media.
Mass protests involved dozens of Russian cities for the second weekend in a row, despite authorities’ efforts to quell the unrest caused by the 44-year-old Navalny prison.
He was arrested on January 17 on his return from Germany, where he spent five months recovering from a nervous agent poisoning he attributes to the Kremlin. Russian officials reject the charge. He faces a prison sentence for alleged parole violations of a 2014 money laundering conviction that is widely seen as politically motivated.
Last month, Russia’s prison service filed a motion to replace his suspended sentence of three and a half years from his conviction with one he must serve. The Attorney General’s office supported the motion on Monday, alleging that Navalny was involved in “illegal conduct” during the trial period.
After his arrest, Navalny’s team released a two-hour video on YouTube, claiming that an opulent Black Sea residence was built for Putin. The video has been viewed more than 100 million times, further fueling Russians’ discontent amid an economic crisis. The Kremlin says Putin has no connection to the residence, and the president himself addressed the charges last week, saying that neither he nor his relatives own any of the properties mentioned in the video.
The demonstrations after Navalny’s arrest appear to have shaken the Kremlin. To try to contain the protests, authorities have arrested Navalny members and activists across the country. His brother Oleg, his main ally Lyubov Sobol and three others were put under house arrest for two months and face criminal charges of violating coronavirus restrictions.
On Tuesday, Navalny’s spokeswoman, Kira Yarmysh, was also sentenced to prison for two months in connection with the same charge. Yarmysh was sentenced to nine days in prison last month for violating protest regulations and was due to be released on Saturday, but was arrested again.
At least 40 criminal investigations have been opened in 18 Russian regions in connection with the protests, said Pavel Chikov, head of the human rights organization Agora.
Police cracked down on protesters on Sunday, arresting more than 5,400 of them, according to OVD-Info, a legal aid group that monitors arrests in protests. The group said it was the highest number in its nine-year history of Putin-era records.
At least 51 protesters were beaten by the police while they were detained, said OVD-Info. Videos of the protests showed riot police hitting people with batons and throwing them on the floor. The media reported that some policemen used paralyzing weapons against the protesters.
When asked about the mass arrests, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the protests were “illegal” and accused “there were quite a number of hooligans, bullies with more or less aggressive behavior towards the police”.
“In response to the provocations, the police act severely and within the law,” said Peskov.
State media also highlighted “aggressive actions” by protesters in their coverage, who said Sunday’s rallies drew far fewer people than the previous one on January 23. Many reports highlighted “polite” actions by police and even the state TV channel Russia 1 showed video testimonials of people thanking the police in relation to the rallies.
Navalny’s arrest and crackdown on protests sparked international outrage, with Western officials calling for his release and condemning the arrests of protesters.
The German government called for the immediate release of the arrested protesters, as well as Navalny. The report “condemns the use of force by Russian security forces and the once again disproportionate action against citizens who demonstrate peacefully,” said government spokeswoman Martina Fietz.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken tweeted that Washington “condemns the persistent use of harsh tactics against peaceful protesters and journalists by Russian authorities for the second consecutive week.” He also called for the release of Navalny and the detainees “for exercising their human rights”.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry rejected Blinken’s appeal as “crude interference in Russia’s internal affairs” and accused Washington of trying to destabilize the situation by supporting the protests.