Navalny supporters are protesting in Russia for the release of the opposition politician.
Thousands of people were arrested.
In Russia, people across the country are protesting against the
imprisonment of the Kremlin critic Alexej Navalny
(see first report)
.
Thousands of people were arrested
across the
country
(update January 24, 8:55 a.m.)
.
Vladimir Putin's
spokesman tried to downplay the protests - a police officer was fired after public support for Navalny (
update from January 24, 4:15 p.m.
).
Update from January 24th, 4:15 p.m.:
One day after the
mass protests of supporters of the Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny
across
Russia
, the
Kremlin
spoke of a few people on the streets.
"Now many will say that many people went to the unauthorized actions," Kremlin spokesman
Dmitry Peskov
told
Russian state television.
“No, few people went.
Many people vote for Putin, ”said Peskov in the program“ Moscow.Kreml.Putin ”, which was to be broadcast on Sunday evening.
Peskov also criticized the
US embassy in Moscow
, which had published a list of demo meeting places and times in the run-up to the protests.
This is "a direct support for the violation of the law," said
President Vladimir Putin's
spokesman
.
Meanwhile, a
Russian police officer has
been fired after showing solidarity with Navalny in an Internet video.
Ruslan Agibalow from the city of
Kursk
around 450 kilometers south of the capital Moscow had published the clip “in support of Alexej Navalny and all political prisoners” on the weekend before the major nationwide Navalny protests.
He was afraid that his children would at some point ask him: "Dad, what have you done to ensure that we can live in a free, prosperous country?", Says Agibalow, among other things.
"And then I have no answer." The policeman asked that his words not be understood as a call for protests by Navalny supporters.
Nevertheless, he was released a little later, as the Kursk department of the
Interior Ministry announced
.
The police officer had soiled the honor of his authority, it was said as a reason.
Update from January 24th, 12:45 p.m.:
Prominent Russian cultural workers, including musicians, authors and actors,
showed
solidarity
with the
detained Kremlin opponent Alexej Navalny
and called for protests
in a video
.
The writer
Dmitri Gluchowski
(Dmitry Glukhovsky),
also known in Germany
, said that there are moments in life when silence is out of place.
The musicians from
Noize MC, Anacondaz
and the internationally known director
Witali Manski also
called in the clip “Freedom for Alexej Navalny!” To not watch indifferently when people are politically persecuted and locked up for no reason.
Video in social networks causes horror: Protests in Russia against Navalny imprisonment
Update from January 24th, 10:50 am:
A video on social networks
that showed
a woman brutally kicking a police officer in St. Petersburg caused horror.
According to media reports, the 54-year-old suffered a traumatic brain injury.
She is in the hospital and is unconscious.
Investigators announced they are looking into the case.
Navalny protests in Russia: Thousands of supporters on the streets - Navalny's wife free again
Update from January 24th, 8.55 a.m.:
More than 3,400 people have been arrested during nationwide protests by
supporters of the Kremlin critic Alexej Navalny in Russia
.
Tens of thousands of people followed the opposition's call to protest on Saturday, protested against
President Vladimir Putin
and demanded
Navalny's release
.
Riot police used force against the demonstrators in Moscow and other major cities.
The EU and the USA sharply criticized the tough approach taken by the security authorities.
According to estimates by
AFP
journalists, the
largest rallies took place
in Moscow and St. Petersburg, each with around 20,000 participants.
The police in Moscow spoke of 4,000 demonstrators, according to which around 40 police officers were slightly injured.
Nawalny's supporters also took to the streets
in around a hundred other cities
.
There were also major demonstrations and violent arrests in Vladivostok and Khabarovsk in the Far East.
Participants in the rally shouted "Putin - thief!", "Navalny - we are with you!" And "Freedom for the political prisoners!"
Alexej Navalny: Tens of thousands demonstrate nationwide for the release of the Krem critic
Update from January 23, 5:35 p.m.:
Julia Navalnaja
, the wife of the imprisoned
Kremlin critic Alexej Navalny
, was released by the Moscow police on Saturday afternoon.
This is confirmed by media reports and sources
close to the
Navalny
family
.
Navalnaya
was
taken into
police
custody
on Saturday
as she took part in a demonstration demanding the release of her husband.
All over
Russia
tens of thousands of people took to the streets to demonstrate against the arrest of Navalny and the policies of Russian President
Vladimir Putin
.
There were also violent clashes between
demonstrators
and the
police
.
The
human rights organization
OWD spoke of at least 2,131
arrests across the
country
on Saturday evening
.
However, the police operations would continue.
Alexei Navalny,
who
barely survived
an attack with the
neurotoxin Novitschok
last year, returned to
Russia
at the beginning of January after being treated in Germany
.
The 44-year-old was arrested at the airport when he arrived and has been in police custody ever since.
Update January 23, 14:15:
Even
Alexei Nawalnys mother
should be involved in the protest action in Russia.
The Kremlin critic's team posted
a photo of her
shortly before the arrest of
Julia Navalnaya became known
.
Navalny faces several criminal proceedings and many years in prison.
The civil rights movement OWD now counts more than 1,000 arrests nationwide during the protests.
These are also targeted against
Vladimir Putin
after the Navalny team recently published an unveiling video that is supposed to prove that Putin had a “tsarist empire” built on the Black Sea from bribes.
Alexei Navalny's wife: Julia Navalnaya arrested in Moscow - mail from prisoner's car
Update from January 23, 1:50 p.m.:
Alexej Navalny's wife
Julia Navalnaya
was arrested during the protests for the release of the Kremlin critic.
"Please excuse the poor image quality," she wrote on Saturday in response to an Instagram post she published.
The lighting conditions are very bad.
The photo shows her in a prisoner van.
Update from January 23, 1:20 p.m.:
The Russia-wide protests for the release of the detained
Kremlin critic Alexej Navalny
have reached the capital Moscow.
Police arrested several demonstrators on Saturday afternoon, as a reporter from the
German Press Agency
reported on site.
Also
Nawalnys closest colleague, the lawyer Lyubov Sobol
, was arrested.
Among the thousands of protesters were many young people and middle-class people.
In contrast to unauthorized rallies in the past, the central Pushkin Square was not cordoned off in large areas.
Activists complained about the internet being throttled.
“Putin is a thief,”
shouted the people in Moscow - as they did in many other cities in the country where the protests took place several hours earlier than in the capital due to the time difference.
Nationwide, the civil rights organization OWD counted 369 arrests by the afternoon.
But there were also reports from security forces who did not intervene but let the people march.
The Russian authorities are threatening heavy fines for participating in the unauthorized rallies on Saturday.
Numerous supporters of the opposition politician had already been arrested in the past few days.
Protests in Russia: People demonstrate against the imprisonment of Alexei Navalny
+
Thousands of people are demonstrating in the Russian metropolis of St. Petersburg against the arrest of Kremlin critic Alexej Navalny.
© Dmitri Lovetsky / AP / dpa
First report from January 23, 11 a.m .:
Moscow - When the Kremlin critic Alexej Navalny returned to Russia after a month-long stay, he was immediately arrested.
Now he is to serve a 30-day prison sentence after a controversial urgent procedure.
But resistance is forming against it.
Inside and outside the country.
Russia has
refused to
interfere from abroad
because of the protests for the
release of the detained Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny *
.
The Russian Foreign Ministry criticized the US embassy in Moscow in a statement, which had listed several demonstrations planned for Saturday with exact meeting points and times.
Under the guise of concerns about the safety of US citizens abroad, Washington wants to fuel the protests in Russia, criticized Moscow.
Navalny's supporters
have called for protests in more than 90 Russian cities this Saturday.
They are demanding the release of Putin's opponent, who was sentenced to 30 days in prison on Monday in a controversial urgent procedure.
He is said to have violated reporting requirements in previous criminal proceedings while he was recovering from a poison attack in Germany.
Navalny and his team see the judiciary's actions as politically motivated.
Navalny protests in Russia: Kremlin critics sentenced to imprisonment - already 125 arrests in counter-demos
By Saturday afternoon Moscow time, the
civil rights organization OWD had already
counted
125 arrests
in cities where the protests were scheduled several hours earlier than in the capital due to the time difference.
In many places, however, the police did not intervene, as can be seen on videos on social networks.
In the Siberian city of Tomsk, where Navalny was the
victim of an attack with the neurotoxin Novichok
in August
, people are said to have gathered for the largest unauthorized demonstration in years.
Navalny makes
Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin *
and the FSB for the assassination responsible.
Putin and the FSB reject that.
Navalny's supporters spoke of thousands of demonstrators in Khabarovsk, Irkutsk and Novosibirsk.
The crowd chanted "We have the power" and "Putin is a thief".
At the beginning of the week, Nawalny's team published a highly acclaimed unveiling video entitled “A Palace for Putin”, which is supposed to prove that the president had a “tsarist empire” built on the Black Sea from bribes.
The
Kremlin describes the allegations as a "lie"
.
The authorities are threatening heavy fines for participating in the unauthorized rallies.
Numerous supporters of the opposition politician had already been arrested in the past few days.
(dpa / afp)
List of rubric lists: © Screenshot: Youtube.com/ Непокорный арестант
