Thousands protest against Russian government, hundreds arrested

The European Union’s diplomatic service demanded the release of demonstrators who were arrested during anti-corruption protests.

Since Sunday, hundreds have been detained as anti-Putin demonstrations engulfed the country. Throughout Russia the opposition held the so-called anti-corruption rallies.

“I live here. I’m going to live here”, Navalny stated several days before the protest when Russian authorities had warned about detaining anyone inviting people to join the rally. The vast majority were released overnight after being fined, while about 120 remained in police custody on Monday, OVD-Info said. “Free speech is what we’re all about and Americans expect our leaders to call out thugs who trample the basic human rights of speech, press, assembly, and protest”. The decision appeared to reflect the Kremlin’s desire to neutralize Navalny’s political ambitions – the conviction would prevent him from running for office – without angering supporters enough to take to the streets.

A defiant Navalny posted a selfie from court on Twitter: “The time will come when we will have them on trial (but honestly)”, he wrote. “What we saw yesterday in certain places, and especially in Moscow, was a provocation”. Russian newspaper Kommersant reported that about half were students. It’s unclear how they will impact the nation’s politics heading toward next year’s elections.

Some young people were paid to attend, a presidential spokesman said.

After an administrative penalty and the arrest of Russian opposition figure and blogger Alexei Navalny takes effect, the Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN) may ask the court to replace his suspended sentence with a real prison term in the Yves Rocher embezzlement case, his lawyer has told TASS.

He said his party’s activists were being intimidated by the Russian intelligence service, the FSB, with threats of job losses or violence if they kept up their work. Few of my peers watch TV.

What have the media said?

The opposition politician Aleksei Navalny was detained on Triumfalnaya Square. “Firing him would amount to the recognition that people who took to the streets were right”.

In Moscow, protesters blocked security vans with cars and riot police were deployed to break up the actions, although they “mostly avoided brutal measures”, according to the New York Times.

The unsanctioned protests were the biggest public gatherings since the 2011/2012 anti-Kremlin demonstrations. In all political crises, including in revolutionary ones, the youth are always the ignition and the avant-garde.

Peskov said it was regrettable that people wishing to protest were not informed about the alternative locations.

Russian authorities should release all those detained, Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland said.

The arrest of protesters drew criticism from the Trump administration’s Department of State, which tweeted its dissent Monday. “I can’t say that I’m on their side, but I believe the opposition pursues the correct goal”.

“We have all seen the movie, it gives specific examples of corruption, and there has been no reaction”, Nikolai Moisey, a 26-year-old factory worker, said of the claims against Medvedev.