Opposition figure Lyubov Sobol arrested in Moscow for inciting protests

Police officers in Moscow have arrested opposition figure Lyubov Sobol, who works for Alexey Navalny’s Anti–Corruption Foundation. This was confirmed by the independent television network Dozhd. Sobol’s arrest was first reported by her lawyer, Vladimir Voronin.

Sobol has been taken to the Donskoy District Police Station, where law enforcement officers reportedly plan to charge her with an administrative violation for inciting protests planned for January 23.

Rallies opposing the detention of opposition figure Alexey Navalny are set to take place in Moscow and dozens of other cities across Russia on that day.

On January 20 and 21, police officers made rounds to the homes of Anti-Corruption Foundation employees, as well as journalists and activists, to issue warnings from state prosecutors against participating in rallies on January 23. 

Also on January 21, Russia’s state censorship agency (Roskomnadzor) issued a statement warning social networks that they could face administrative fines of up to 4 million rubles (about $54,250) for distributing information that incites minors to take part in unauthorized protests. Similarly, a day earlier, Roskomnadzor, ordered TikTok and VKontakte to remove content inciting underage users to participate in illegal protests.