Moscow locks up yet another Navalny activist

It wouldn’t be a day of news without another one of Navalny’s people landing in jail, and the Moscow legal system doesn’t disappoint. On Friday, the Tverskoi District Court sentenced Anti-Corruption Foundation staffer Nikolai Lyaskin to 15 days behind bars for helping to promote the May 5 anti-Putin protests. He was initially detained on May 5 and held in police custody for two days, before being released to await his trial.

Some other Navalny figures recently detained by police: YouTube channel news anchors Elena Malakhovskaya and Ruslan Shaveddinov, and Anti-Corruption Foundation lawyer Ivan Zhdanov. Alexey Navalny and his press secretary, Kira Yarmysh, were recently jailed for 30 days and 25 days, respectively, also for organizing “unpermitted” rallies on May 5.

What happened on May 5? Across the country, police detained more than 1,600 demonstrators, including 158 minors. On May 15, Alexey Navalny was sentenced to 30 days in jail for organizing the “illegal” rallies. On May 23, the Moscow City Court rejected Navalny’s appeal.