An observer in Moscow was arrested for 12 days because of a striped sweater

The Koptevsky district court of Moscow arrested Vera Indyenko, a reanimatologist, for 12 days. Here is an article about the demonstration of extremist symbols. As reported by The Insider, the court considered the photo of Indyenko in a white sweater with a blue stripe, which the doctor published on social networks, to be “extremist symbols”. According to the court, the combination of white and blue stripes refers to the symbols of the “Freedom of Russia” legion, recognized by the Russian authorities as extremist.

Vera Indiyenko worked as an observer for the CPRF during the presidential elections and was detained by the police directly at the polling station on March 16. At the trial, she admitted that she had indeed published a photo of herself in a striped sweater, but it was about three years ago and had nothing to do with the “Freedom of Russia” legion.

According to the publication “Agentstvo”, after the detention, lawyers were not allowed to visit Indiyenko. She said that in the police department they put a bag on her head, insulted her and beat her.

• The white flag with a transverse blue stripe became the natural symbol of anti-war Russians shortly after the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. This symbol does not have a single author. Ego is used by many opposition political movements. In addition, members of the “Freedom of Russia” legion fighting on the side of Ukraine put it on their sleeves, which, as its representatives claim, consists of Russians. In March 2023, the Supreme Court of Russia declared the organization a terrorist organization. After that, the Russians began to fine the white-blue-white flag as a “terrorist symbol.”