After someone killed a well-known critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, thousands gathered throughout the country to push for an end to corruption.
More than 8,000 people protested in Moscow alone on March 26. Additionally, many more protested in 100 other cities in Russia. The people gathered to push for Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev’s resignation. Officials did not authorize the protests, leading to law enforcement arresting hundreds of people, including a prominent critic of the Russian government.
According to Russian organizations, police detained between 500 and 700 people. The most notable detainee is Alexei Nevalny, a Russian lawyer and the country’s main opposition leader. He has organized numerous demonstrations against Putin, including the mass protests on Sunday.
Nevalny was arrested as he attempted to join protestors in Moscow. Afterward, he posted a message on Twitter that the protests are about discussing and condemning corruptions.
“Well, I was detained. So what. It OK,” he tweeted. “There are things in life that are worth being detained for.”
Officials took Nevalny to court early Monday morning. If found guilty of organizing the protests, they will keep him in jail for 2 weeks. Not only did they arrest Nevalny, but police officers arrested 17 of his staff members Sunday while they were at their office during the protests. After arresting the staff, officials kept them at the police department overnight while they raided the office and took all of their equipment.
The mass protests were part of the campaign “He is not your Dimon,” referring to Medvedev. Nevalny and other protestors accuse Medvedev of being a major proponent in the government’s corruption. Accordingly, Nevalny published a report on March 2 that Medvedev purchased large assets from bribes and state bank loans, including land parcels in popular regions. This served as the official call-to-action for the protests.
The U.S. comments on protest detention
U.S. State Department spokesperson Mark Toner said the U.S. condemns the Russian government arresting peaceful protestors. However, President Donald Trump has not commented on the event, despite his relationship with Putin.
“We were troubled to hear of the arrest of opposition figure Alexei Navalny upon arrival at the demonstration, as well as the police raids on the anti-corruption organization he heads,” Toner said. “Detaining peaceful protestors, human rights observers and journalists is an affront to core democratic values.”
