The oppression exercised by the Kremlin goes ever further.
Russian justice this weekend sentenced at least 150 people arrested during tributes to opponent Alexeï Navalny to prison terms.
They are accused of having violated the strict legislation governing demonstrations, according to court data on Sunday.
In St. Petersburg alone, in the northwest, courts on Saturday and Sunday sentenced 154 of them to up to 14 days in prison, according to decisions made public by the courts' press service of this city, the second largest in Russia.
More than 400 arrests Friday and Saturday
Despite severe repression and warnings, hundreds of Russians participated in small rallies in several cities to pay tribute to Alexeï Navalny, a famous critic of the Kremlin who died at the age of 47 in a prison in the Russian Arctic.
Russian authorities made more than 400 arrests on Friday and Saturday during rallies organized in 36 cities, with the majority of arrests taking place in Saint Petersburg and Moscow, according to the specialized NGO OVD-Info.
On Sunday, barriers were installed around another memorial in the Russian capital, in front of a monument called the “Wall of Mourning,” noted an AFP journalist.
Several dozen police officers stood guard, but a few people were allowed to approach the memorial to lay flowers.
The death of Alexeï Navalny, on which the Kremlin remains silent, provoked a wave of indignation from Western countries, many of which accuse Russia of being responsible.