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RUSSIA-POLITICS-OPPOSITION-NAVALNY
Navalny’s supporters head to protests despite looming crackdown
MOSCOW, Jan 23, 2021 (BSS/AFP) – Supporters of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei
Navalny were preparing to rally in dozens of cities across Russia on Saturday
even as authorities vowed a crackdown on protesters.
Allies of Russia’s leading opposition figure — who was jailed upon
returning to Moscow after a near-fatal poisoning with a nerve agent — said
they would take to the streets despite police warnings that unsanctioned
public events would be “immediately suppressed”.
In the days leading up to the rallies several key Navalny aides were taken
into police custody for violating protest laws and handed short jail
sentences to keep them away from the protests.
In a post on Instagram, Navalny’s wife Yulia said she would join the
protest in Moscow: “For myself, for him, for our children, for the values and
the ideals that we share”.
Navalny’s aides urged Russians to join the demonstrations on Saturday,
promising financial help with fines.
In Moscow, which usually mobilises the largest rallies, protesters plan to
meet in the central Pushkin Square at 2:00 pm (1100 GMT) and march towards
the Kremlin.
The city’s mayor Sergei Sobyanin said the calls for rallies were
“unacceptable” during a pandemic and warned police would take action to
ensure public order.
– Strong online presence –
Navalny, 44, rose to prominence around a decade ago and has become the
central figure of Russia’s opposition movement, leading large-scale street
protests against corruption and electoral fraud.
He has a strong online presence and publishes investigations into the
wealth of Russia’s political elites on his YouTube channel with five million
subscribers.
Many Navalny allies this week posted to social media to voice their
support and call for participation in the rallies on Saturday.
Thousands of videos appeared on the TikTok app popular among teenagers,
which has become an emerging medium for Russians to voice their political
views.
Russia’s media watchdog warned online platforms against encouraging minors
to participate in the rallies or risk hefty fines.
The watchdog said Friday that media platforms, including TikTok, YouTube
and Instagram, removed content at its request.
Russia’s most popular social network VKontakte blocked groups created to
coordinate the protests in different cities.
The Russian Investigative Committee, which probes major crimes, said
Friday it launched a criminal probe into the calls for unauthorised protests.
– Arrested on arrival –
Navalny returned to Russia last week after five months in Germany, where
he was recovering from a poisoning attack that he says was ordered by
President Vladimir Putin.
A hastily organised court jailed the anti-graft campaigner for 30 days
while he awaits trial for violating a suspended sentence he was handed in
2014.
Navalny faces a series of legal challenges that could see him receive real
jail time.
After his arrest his team released an investigation into a lavish Black
Sea property allegedly owned by Putin, a claim the Kremlin denied.
The two-hour video report has been viewed more than 64 million times since
its release on Tuesday, becoming the Kremlin critic’s most-watched YouTube
investigation.
Navalny’s arrest drew widespread Western condemnation, with the United
States, the European Union, France and Canada all calling for his release.
BSS/AFP/SSS/0953 hrs