Protesters supporting ‘New Greatness’ case defendants arrested outside Moscow FSB headquarters
Moscow police have begun arresting protesters for carrying out single-person demonstrations outside of the Federal Security Service (FSB) headquarters on Lubyanka square. At least six people have been detained, including literary critic Anna Narinskaya.
Update: Meduza’s correspondent has reported that law-enforcement officers have detained at least 14 people.
The demonstrators were expressing their support for the suspects in the controversial “Novoe Velichie” (“New Greatness”) extremism case.
Protests in support of the “New Greatness” case defendants
Meduza
On July 14, the prosecution requested a variety of sentences for the defendants in the “New Greatness” case, ranging from four years probation to seven and a half years in prison on charges of organizing an illegal extremist group. A trial date has yet to be set for the sentencing.
The “New Greatness” case
In 2018, ten activists from the so-called “Novoe Velichie” (New Greatness) movement were accused of organizing an illegal extremist group. Investigators believe they were plotting to “overthrow Russia’s constitutional order,” using leaflets and Telegram chat messages. The movement emerged from a group of like-minded individuals hanging out at the same McDonald’s. The suspects’ parents accuse the police of framing their children for crimes they didn’t commit, and sources have told reporters that an undercover police officer was embedded inside the organization. The New Greatness case was opened