As of Thursday, March 25, more than 250,000 people across Russia have signed up to take part in a countrywide protest action demanding the release of imprisoned opposition politician Alexey Navalny.
Navalny’s associates announced the new “Freedom for Navalny!” campaign and launched the dedicated website where would-be protesters can register to participate just two days ago. They have promised to hold a “fundamentally different rally that everyone will know about.” Navalny’s associates plan to announce the date of the rally once 500,000 people have joined the campaign. In the first seven hours, 100,000 people signed up to take part in the protests.
Opposition demonstrations in support of Alexey Navalny took place across Russia in late January and early February. They began after the opposition figure was arrested upon returning to Russia from Germany, where he spent five months recovering from a chemical nerve agent attack after an apparent attempt on his life in August 2020.
Navalny is now serving a 2.5-year prison sentence in Penal Colony No. 2 (IK-2) in the city of Pokrov in the Vladimir Region. On March 24, his lawyers reported that his health has deteriorated while in custody — Navalny has been experiencing pain in his back and numbness in one of his legs. The next day, the prison authorities announced that a medical examination found Navalny’s state of health “stable and satisfactory.” However, after meeting with Navalny, his lawyers said that he is in “severe pain.”
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Navalny’s sentence
On February 2, a Moscow district court incarcerated Navalny under a reinstated sentence for violating his probation in the Yves Rocher case while in Germany, where he spent five months recovering from chemical nerve agent poisoning following an apparent attempt on his life in August 2020. On February 20, the Moscow City Court reduced his sentence slightly, taking into account time served under house arrest and in pre-trial detention. Navalny is now serving out a 2.5-year sentence in a penal colony in the Vladimir Region.
Pro-Navalny protests
On January 23 and 31, as well as on February 2, “Freedom for Navalny!” protests took place in more than 100 cities across Russia. More than 11,000 people were detained across the country during the three days of demonstrations, and investigators launched dozens of criminal cases in connection with the rallies. On February 14, Navalny’s associates organized small flash mobs in neighborhoods across the country, under the slogan “Love is stronger than fear.” This protest action took place without any arrests.