MOSCOW (AP) – A senior ally of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny on Tuesday announced a new protest against the government, urging residents of major cities to gather briefly in residential courtyards over the weekend with their cellphone flashes on.
Navalny strategist Leonid Volkov said the protest would start at 8pm on Sunday and last for 15 minutes. The new rally format – similar to the tactics used by opposition supporters during protests in neighboring Belarus – could prevent Russian riot police from interfering and allow anyone to take part, Volkov wrote in a Facebook post.
The protest will coincide with Valentine’s Day, and Volkov titled “Love is stronger than fear.”
‘You’ll raise your phone lights – and someone might bring candles – and form a heart shape with them … You’ll take a photo from above from one of the apartments and post it on Instagram. “Let’s have social media feeds filled with thousands of shining hearts from dozens of Russian cities,” Volkov wrote. “No OMON (riot police), no fear.”
Navalny, 44, an investigator into corruption and the main critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, was arrested on January 17 when he returned from Germany, where he spent five months recovering from a nerve agent poisoning. he blames the Kremlin. Russian authorities have denied the allegations.
His arrest and imprisonment sparked nationwide protests, with tens of thousands of people gathering in Russia for two consecutive weekends in the biggest outpouring of discontent in years.
Russian authorities responded with harsh repression. More than 11,000 people were detained, and hundreds were jailed. Several of Navalny’s close allies are facing criminal charges and are under house arrest.
Last week, a court in Moscow ruled that while Navalny was recovering in Germany, he had violated the terms of his suspended sentence due to a 2014 money laundering conviction and should serve two years and eight months in prison. Even before the verdict, Navalny condemned the 2014 political prosecution, and the European Court of Human Rights called it “arbitrary and apparently unreasonable.”
In the wake of the fierce repression of the police, Volkov said protests should be suspended until spring, as every weekend’s rallies will only lead to many more arrests.
However, on Tuesday he mentioned the need to “adopt something stronger than fear” for repression and to hold a demonstration that the police could not derail.
“We have already become the majority, but Putin divides us through (riot police) cordons so we can not see each other and see how many of us are there. We have to find a way to overcome it, ‘Volkov wrote.
Asked if the opposition’s call for a rally could be seen as an unauthorized protest, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it was “difficult to say” but assured reporters that if anyone in Russia violate the law, they will be held accountable by law enforcement. .
Navalny’s arrest and imprisonment have increased tensions between Russia and the European Union. European leaders demanded the release of the opposition leader, and the Kremlin said it would not listen to Western criticism of Navalny’s sentencing and police action against his supporters.
Russia’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on Tuesday accused Navalny’s allies of being NATO’s agents of influence ‘and of planning to suspend protests following instructions from bloc members received ‘how to’ be smarter ‘about continuing the subversive work. ”
Zakharova pointed to an online conference with EU, US and UK officials attended by Volkov and another Navalny collaborator, Vladimir Ashurkov, on Monday.
Volkov said on Twitter on Monday that sanctions against individual Russian officials and tycoons had been discussed during the event, calling it a “sore spot” for Russian officials.