From our correspondent in Moscow
Given the time difference, rallies took place early Saturday, January 23 in the Russian Far East and Siberia, in support of the opponent Alexeï Navalny, imprisoned since Monday upon his return to Moscow.
And more than a hundred arrests have already taken place.
Calls to protest this Saturday were launched in some ninety cities across the country, which stretches from Eastern Europe to the Pacific.
Here in Vladivostok.
PAVEL KOROLYOV / AFP
In Vladivostok, Khabarovsk, but also in Irkutsk and Novosibirsk, in Siberia, as well as in Yakutsk - by polar cold of minus fifty degrees - thousands of people took to the streets, chanting slogans such as
"Get out" , “Change”
and
“Freedom”
for Navalny, cantor of the fight against corruption and bête noire of the Kremlin, survivor of poisoning in Novichok and returned to the country after five months of care and convalescence in Germany.
In Tomsk, the Siberian city where the opponent was poisoned on August 20, some seven demonstrators gathered with cries of
“Thief Putin
” and
“Navalny, we are with you”.
Read also: The Kremlin nervous before Saturday's protests in favor of Navalny
The images broadcast on Russian social networks showed the interventions of the riot police, the Omon, to disperse the demonstrators, especially in Vladivostok.
About 125 protesters had already been arrested Saturday morning in ten Russian cities, according to the NGO OVD-info, specializing in monitoring arrests on the sidelines of demonstrations.
In Moscow, where the gathering is scheduled for Pushkin Square, not far from the Kremlin, the police were already visible early this morning and metal barriers have been put in place.
Access to the square and the surrounding streets were blocked.
Moscow police have vowed to
"crack down without delay"
any unauthorized gatherings.
On Friday, the mayor of Moscow, Sergei Sobyanin, denounced the
“unacceptable”
demonstrations
in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.
Warnings that raised fears of a brutal intervention of the police and a number of arrests.
Test day
On the eve of this day of demonstrations, several collaborators of Alexeï Navalny have already been arrested - including his spokesperson Kyra Iarmych -, and the police went to the homes of several notorious opponents, and even journalists, for them. dissuade from taking to the streets.
On Instagram, Navalny's wife, Yulia Navalnaïa, nevertheless announced her intention to demonstrate in Moscow for her husband who
“never gives up”.
This day of actions will be a test for the popularity of Alexey Navalny, the “
Berlin patient
”, as he was designated in the Kremlin in order to avoid any personalization of a political duel with Vladimir Poutine.
The opponent, of whom the media close to power hardly speaks, has gained notoriety with his poisoning, his miraculous recovery, his courageous return to Russia and his imprisonment.
But the vast majority of Russians do not trust him, according to recent polls which show that Vladimir Putin remains far ahead.
Read also: Navalny unveils in a shocking investigation the incredible splendor of "Putin's palace"
Nevertheless, upon his arrest, Alexeï Navalny received the support of the Western powers who demanded his release but also the support of Russian celebrities, television presenters, singers, calling for demonstrations to get him out of prison.
Thousands of calls for protest were also relayed this week on social networks, such as Vkontakte
,
the Russian Facebook, or Tik Tok
,
the popular Chinese platform for teenagers.
In response, Roskomnadzor, the Russian telecommunications gendarme, threatened social networks with fines and some of the messages calling for demonstrations were deleted from Tik Tok and Vkontakte.
In addition, an investigation was opened for
"inciting illegal acts with minors
" - an accusation rejected by Alexeï Navalny's team - and the Ministry of Education called on parents to
" prevent »
their children from joining demonstrations.
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