From the MT:
“Russian
Authorities Warn Against Navalny Courtyard Protests”
Law enforcement
authorities warned Russians Thursday not to take part in Valentine’s Day
courtyard protests in support of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny. Navalny’s
team has called on supporters to hold up their cellphone flashlights in their
residential courtyards for short intervals to avoid the kind of crackdown that
followed a wave of mass nationwide rallies in recent weeks. A separate team of activists announced a
“Chain of Solidarity and Love” in central Moscow Feb. 14 in support of
Navalny’s wife Yulia and other women subjected to political prosecution. Russia’s
Interior Ministry, Investigative Committee and Prosecutor General’s Office
issued simultaneous and similarly worded online statements warning that calls
for and participation in mass actions are illegal. The Interior Ministry and
Investigative Committee said protesters risk civil and criminal liability for
taking part in unlawful assemblies. “Restrictive measures are still in place in
the regions due to the difficult epidemiological situation,” said the Interior
Ministry, warning that it will detain protesters and those who incite them. “Don’t
forget that involving minors in committing illegal actions that knowingly
endanger their lives is a criminal offense,” said the federal investigative
body. The prosecutor’s office said the
calls online urge participation in “mass public events organized in violation
of established procedure.” It also warned of steep fines for internet companies
and social media networks that fail to remove calls for mass riots. Russian
police said at least 90 criminal cases have been opened in connection with the
recent weeks’ rallies.
The nationwide
demonstrations saw an estimated 12,000 detentions and a harsh police crackdown.
Several of Navalny’s key allies were jailed, some of them repeatedly, ahead of
the mass demonstrations. The Kremlin said this week it “won’t play
cat-and-mouse” with the protesters planning to take part in the courtyard
flashlight flashmob. “Our law enforcement officers will bring perpetrators to
justice if they violate the law,” President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry
Peskov told reporters Tuesday.
^ The Kremlin
is really scared. ^
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