Russian justice this weekend sentenced at least 150 people arrested during tributes to opponent Alexeï Navalny to prison terms, according to court data published on Sunday February 17. These arrests took place officially for having violated the strict legislation governing demonstrations.
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In St. Petersburg alone, Russia’s second city, judges on Saturday and Sunday sentenced 154 of them to sentences of up to 14 days in prison, according to decisions made public by the press service of the courts of this city, in the North-West.
Human rights groups and independent media reported several similar convictions in other cities.
Alexeï Navalny died Friday February 16 at the age of 47 in the Arctic penal colony where he was held. Those close to Alexeï Navalny on Saturday described the Russian authorities as “ killers » seeking to “ cover their tracks » by refusing to hand over his body to them. The Kremlin remains silent despite accusations from the West and rallies in tribute to the opponent.
This weekend, police arrested hundreds of Russians in dozens of cities who had gone to lay flowers and light candles in his honor at memorials to victims of Stalin-era repression.
Police officers and men in plain clothes patrolled sites in dozens of Russian cities where people gathered to pay their respects to Alexei Navalny this weekend.
They were notably seen overnight removing temporary memorials and images showed hooded men putting flowers in trash bags on a bridge near the Kremlin where another leading opponent of Vladimir Putin, Boris Nemtsov, was killed in 2015.
Protests against the Kremlin and other public actions opposing the regime are illegal in Russia, notably under legislation banning unauthorized gatherings.
(With AFP)
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