Galyamin, because of the threat of a criminal case, “take a break” in his activities

Opposition politician and public figure Yulia Galyamina said that due to the threat of criminal prosecution, she will take a break from her activities, in particular, she will not post on social networks and give interviews. She wrote about this on Saturday in her Telegram channel.

Galyamina referred to a publication on the Telegram channel BRIEF, in which, with reference to an anonymous source from the security forces, it was stated that a criminal case could be initiated against Galyamina in connection with the “Protest Noon” action announced by supporters of Alexei Navalny on the day of the Russian presidential election on March 17.

According to Galyamina, she took the publication on a channel with almost 500,000 subscribers, which often refers to sources in power structures, as a “warning”, and her lawyer holds the same opinion. “I’m not afraid of prison and I prepared for it a long time ago, because living in constant fear is terribly humiliating and difficult. But I don’t see the point in striving for prison, ignoring the danger,” Galyamina writes, noting that she made the decision “to a little pause.” At the same time, she noted that she is not “abandoning politics” and does not intend to leave Russia.

Yulia Galyamina is a former teacher of a number of leading Russian universities, a former municipal deputy of the Tymyryazevsky district of Moscow, one of the most famous opposition activists who did not leave Russia after the beginning of the large-scale invasion of Ukraine. Galyamina declared that she was not emigrating for reasons of principle. In 2020, she was threatened with imprisonment under the criminal article for repeatedly violating the rules of holding rallies (“Dadinskaya” article), she was sentenced to two years of conditional imprisonment. In 2022, she was included in the register of so-called foreign agents.

A few days ago, supporters of the jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny announced that they were calling on Russians to come to the polling stations at exactly 12:00 local time on election day, March 17, as a sign of protest against President Vladimir Putin. The purpose of the action, as follows from the messages of Navalny’s supporters, is to show the mass of disapproval of Putin’s policies. It is not clear why the law enforcement authorities could suspect Galyamin of involvement in the preparation of the action, it has no relation to the structures connected with Navalny.