Team Navalny’s Omsk coordinator written up for protest announcements on social media

Team Navalny’s coordinator in Omsk, Olga Kartatseva, has been written up for an administrative violation following a police inspection at the local team office on Monday, January 20.

“Team Navalny in Omsk” announced that law enforcement had arrived at their headquarters on Twitter. Policemen told the office staff that they wanted to conduct an “inspection” and prohibited them from taking photos and videos during that time.

When staff members tried to record what was happening, the police officers reportedly took their phones.

Following the inspection, law enforcement wrote up an administrative protocol against the office’s coordinator, Olga Kartatseva, for announcing a rally in support of Alexey Navalny on social media. Kartatseva’s hearing is set to take place on Thursday morning.

“Friends, none of this will intimidate us,” Team Navalny in Omsk wrote on Twitter after the search. “The procession on January 23 will take place anyway. We will meet at Leningradskaya Square at 14:00!”

On the evening of January 17, Alexey Navalny returned to Moscow from Berlin, where he had spent nearly five months recovering from chemical nerve agent poisoning. Law enforcement officers took him into custody at the airport and the next day he was remanded in custody until February 15, at the request of the Federal Penitentiary Service. Navalny’s hearing took place inside a police station in Khimki (near Moscow), and his lawyer was only informed about the proceedings minutes before the hearing began. 

Immediately after the hearing, Navalny published a video on social media urging his supporters to take to the streets. In turn, Team Navalny announced plans to hold solidarity rallies in 40 cities across the country on January 23. 

Russia’s prison authorities are seeking to revoke Navalny’s probation in Yves Rocher case and incarcerate him under a reinstated sentence on the grounds that he violated the terms of his probation while in Germany.