Opposition activists are holding one-person pickets in support of Alexei Navalny all over the country. They are being detained

The activist was left overnight in a detention facility in Murmansk

In Murmansk, a one-person picket in support of Alexei Navalny was held by Violetta Grudina, the head of his headquarters. She was holding poster "Navalny is poisoned, the hirer is known." She was detained by police about an hour after she began picketing at the Five Corners Square.

Despite the fact that Grudina has a little son, she was left overnight in a detention facility. Under Russian law, a person suspected of an administrative offense can be detained for up to 48 hours. At the same time, the law prohibits using administrative arrest against mothers of small children.

“The cell, in which she had to stay till the morning, literally smelled damp and cold. It resulted into a sleepless night, a runny nose, and pain throughout the body. She had to lie right on iron bunks, bedsheets were holey, and a blanket was stinking to the last degree,” representatives of the headquarters reported in their Telegram channel.

On August 21, the Oktyabrsky District Court had to consider a report under Part 2 of Article 20.2 of the Code of Administrative Offenses (Arranging an Unauthorized Public Event), drawn up against Grudina by police, but returned it to the Ministry of Interior for fixing the violations. The court session will be held on August 22.

An awkward attempt of detention in Kurgan

Police approached Alexei Shvarts, the coordinator of Navalny's headquarters in Kurgan, during a one-person picket and asked him to remain there so that their chief would arrive and they could detain him. Shvarts said that since he was not detained, he would not wait for anyone.

“The policeman begged me to wait. I said that I was not detained and had the right to leave the territory. The policeman started following me — and I ran across the road. They began going faster. I ran away from them and hid in the entrance hall in the nearest courtyard. The police tried to find me, but to no avail,” Shvarts told 7x7.

In the afternoon of August 21, as the activist reported in his channel, police found him. As he told 7x7, police officers were waiting for him at the entrance of his house. They drew up a report on him under Part 5 of Article 20.2 of the Administrative Code (Violating the Established Procedure for Holding a Public Event).

 

Rallies in other regions

In addition to Murmansk and Kurgan, people were detained in Moscow and Saint Petersburg. According to the OVD-info Project, a total of nine people were detained at rallies in support of Navalny all over the country.

Tambov

In Tambov, several people held one-person pickets, including coordinator of Navalny's headquarters Diana Rudakova. They stood with posters "We know who is to blame."

Bryansk

In Bryansk, an activist of the headquarters held poster “Alexei Navalny is poisoned: he is critically ill. We are speechless.”

Vologda

In Vologda, libertarians supported the oppositionist 

Nizhny Novgorod

Several picketers went out to the center of Nizhny Novgorod. Telegram channel "Protesting Nizhny Novgorod" reported this.

---

Opposition politician Alexei Navalny felt unwell on a plane flying from Tomsk to Moscow. He was hospitalized in Omsk, the final diagnosis has not been made yet. Supporters of the politician believe that he could have been poisoned; they are planning to continue holding pickets, including demanding that doctors in Omsk allow Navalny to be transferred to a European clinic. On the afternoon of August 21, doctors said that the politician's coma could have been caused by disbolism.

Original