Putin tries to head off protests
Authorities in Russia have taken elaborate measures to curb protests against the jailing of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, as his supporters prepare to rally today in more than 60 Russian cities.
Navalny’s associates in Moscow and other regions have been detained in the leadup to the rallies. Opposition supporters and independent journalists have been approached by police with official warnings. Universities and colleges in several regions have urged students not to attend rallies, with some saying they may be subject to disciplinary action, including expulsion.
As the protests began, the OVD-Info organisation, which monitors political detentions, said at least 48 people were detained yesterday in cities including Vladivostok and Khabarovsk. Organisers in Vladivostok said about 3000 people turned out for the protest there. Turnout is likely to be much larger in Moscow.
Navalny, an anti-corruption campaigner and the Kremlin’s fiercest critic, was arrested this week when he returned to Russia from Germany, where he had spent nearly five months recovering from nerve agent poisoning that he blames on the Kremlin.
On Tuesday, a judge ordered Navalny jailed for 30 days. He faces a years-long prison term after authorities accused him of violating the terms of a suspended sentence in a 2014 conviction for financial misdeeds.
On Friday, police in Moscow detained three top associates of Navalny. His spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh was ordered to spend nine days in jail, and Georgy Alburov was jailed for 10 days. Lyubov Sobol was released but ordered to pay a fine equivalent to NZ$4600. All three have been charged with violating protest regulations.
More than a dozen activists and Navalny allies in several Russian regions have been detained as well.
Russia’s prosecutor-general’s office and police have issued public warnings against attending or calling for unauthorised rallies.
Prosecutors have also demanded that Roskomnadzor, Russia’s media and internet watchdog, restrict access to websites containing calls to protest. The country’s largest social network, VKontakte, yesterday blocked all pages dedicated to the rallies.
Roskomnadzor also said it would fine social media companies for encouraging minors to participate in the protests, amid media reports of calls for demonstrations – and videos of school students replacing portraits of Russian President Vladimir Putin in their classrooms with that of Navalny – going viral among teenagers on social network TikTok.
Navalny’s wife, Yulia Navalnaya, said she would demonstrate ‘‘for myself, for him, for our children, for the values and ideals we share’’, despite the risk of arrest.
Dozens of prominent social media influencers, celebrities and sports stars have expressed horror and anger at Putin’s authoritarian turn – underscoring Putin’s problems in reaching beyond his ageing, conservative base to connect with young, urban Russians who want to be part of the modern world.
Igor Denisov, the former captain of Russia’s national football team, said: ‘‘I have never been interested in politics, and I will never be interested in politics. But this is not about politics. I want to support Alexei Navalny and his family, his wife and his children.
‘‘Alexei should be free. I do respect him. I wish everybody peace and kindness.’’
It is unusual in Russia for sports heroes to speak out politically, but ice hockey star Artyom Panarin also posted ‘‘Free Navalny’’ on Instagram.
Well-known actress Yana Troyanova posted that Russia was being ‘‘plundered in a completely insolent way’’. She called on Russians to join the protests ‘‘just to feel that you are a free person’’.
Russian pop star Elizaveta Gyrdymova, known as Monetochka, posted a song on Instagram in support of Navalny’s freedom.