Lyubov Sobol, a might-have-been nominee for Moscow City Duma deputies, quit hunderstriking she had been on since July, 13. In such a way, the woman protested against the authorities’ refusal to register opposition activists as candidates.
По просьбе матери Алексея Миняйло я прекращаю голодовку. Алексей держит ее в солидарность со мной с позднего вечера 13…
Opublikowany przez Соболь Любовь Środa, 14 sierpnia 2019
She did it at the request of Alexei Minyailo’s mother, Sobol said on Facebook. Minyailo, a member of her team, also went on hunger strike in solidarity, but then he was arrested on charges of rioting.
According to Lyubov Sobol, the ‘riots’ case was fabricated; so was the case initiated against the Anti-Corruption Foundation led by opposition politician Alexei Navalny.
“These criminal cases are nothing but an attack on our society. It is [Mayor] Sobyanin’s revenge on Muscovites for their demanding to be politically represented in the elections to the Moscow City Duma and staying the ground,” she said.
In mid July, Russians started protesting against the authorities’ refusal to register opposition and independent candidates for the Moscow City Duma elections.
On July 24, the riot police arrested Alexei Navalny over his call on Muscovites to take part in the unauthorised rally on July, 27. The politician has to spend 30 days in jail, so does activist Mark Galperin. Konstantin Kotov and Alexander Archagov got a 10-day term in custody each. On the same day, the police searched homes of might-have-been candidates over ‘creating difficulties to election commissions’. The Investigative Committee states that the opposition activists intended to thwart their activity and staged the rallies near the building of the Moscow City Election Commission. The corresponding criminal case was opened shortly before the raids under Art. 141 of the Criminal Code, which may carry punishment of up to 5 years in prison.
On July 28, Navalny was taken to hospital due to a ‘severe allergic reaction’. Physician Anastasia Vasilyeva, who earlier treated Navalny, does not rule out that ‘toxic damage’ to the skin and mucous membranes was caused by an unknown chemical substance and is the result of the action of a third person.
14 people are defendants in the criminal proceedings under Art. 318-1 (using force against against a public officer) and Art. 212-2 (participation in mass disorders) after their showing up at the rally on July, 27 and August, 3.
In early August, Russia’s Investigative Committee opened a criminal case over laundering a billion Russian rubles (about $ 15.4 mln). According to the investigators, in 2016-2018, a number of persons ‘relating to the activities of the NGO Anti-Corruption Foundation, including its employees’, received money from third parties.
As reported earlier, the Russian police detained about 339 people in five Russian cities over the recent protests that took place on August, 10. In Moscow, about 50,000 people gathered for an authorised rally.
ІІ belsat.eu
