Actions are taking place in the world in support of Alexei Navalny

Actions are being held in dozens of cities around the world these days in support of the imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny and other Russian political prisoners.

Promotions take place at Russian embassies or in the central squares of cities. Their participants – mainly citizens of Russia – also speak with slogans against the war and in support of Ukraine.

January 17 marked two years since Navalny’s detention after his return to Russia. Since then, the oppositionist has been deprived of his freedom – first he was sent to a colony in the so-called “Yves Rocher” case, and then a new sentence was handed down in a fraud case and he was transferred to a strict regime colony. Navalny accuses the administration of bullying due to the fact that he was repeatedly sent to a detention center on what he claims are trumped-up grounds. Navalny and his supporters consider the criminal prosecution to be politically motivated. Leading human rights organizations recognized him as a political prisoner or prisoner of conscience.

The #FreeNavalny international campaign was organized by the remaining free and now living abroad associates of the opposition. They demand “the release of all political prisoners, including Navalny,” as well as “an end to the war.” The demands also include the introduction of sanctions by Western countries against approximately 6,000 people whom Navalny’s associates consider to be involved in corruption or inciting war in Ukraine. As part of this campaign, they do not call for protests in Russia because of the danger to their participants. Navalny’s staff is recognized as an extremist organization in Russia, and people are subjected to repression for anti-war speeches.

At the same time, hundreds of Russian citizens signed open letters calling for Navalny to be released or, in any case, to respect his rights. Such letters were published by a group of medical workers, lawyers and municipal deputies.

On January 20 and 21, actions in support of Navalny and other political prisoners (the names of Ilya Yashin, Alexei Horynov, Andrey Pivovarov are most often mentioned) were held, in particular, in Vilnius, Riga, Copenhagen, Berlin, London, Stockholm, Tbilisi, Sydney, Reykjavík, Prague , Buenos Aires and a number of other cities – in more than 20 countries.

On January 22, the action will take place, in particular, in Paris. Its organizers were Lev Ponomarev, the founder of the “For Human Rights” movement who left Russia, and the Russie-Liberté organization.