Navalny could spend Election Day behind bars

Police detained opposition politician Alexey Navalny as he exited a dentist’s office on Thursday. Minutes earlier, officers also detained Leonid Volkov, Navalny’s campaign manager, at Sheremetyevo Airport, before he could board a flight to Ufa to meet with supporters of Navalny’s “voters’ boycott.” Within an hour, police released Navalny after formally charging him with repeatedly violating laws on public assemblies. He faces a 30-day jail sentence.

On January 30, spokespeople for Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation and presidential campaign, Kira Yarmysh and Ruslan Shaveddinov, were detained at Sheremetyevo Airport and jailed for several days for hosting a livestream broadcast of footage from unsanctioned protests. On February 19, police detained Roman Rubanov, the director of the Anti-Corruption Foundation. He was later jailed for 10 days.

Why now? 

This is probably how the authorities will keep Navalny off the streets on Election Day. On January 28, Navalny’s campaign organized nationwide rallies to promote a “voters’ boycott” of the March 18 presidential election. Unsanctioned demonstrations in Moscow and St. Petersburg ended with mass detentions by police. Officers also detained Navalny, but he was quickly released, pending an investigation. Navalny and Volkov now face 30-day jail sentences for organizing these rallies, meaning they could spend March 18 behind bars.