Russian opposition demonstrators yesterday appeared in court after nationwide anti-corruption protests called by leading Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, who was slapped with a 30-day jail sentence.
More than 1,700 people were detained at Monday’s demonstrations, mainly in Moscow and Saint Petersburg, but the Kremlin said police had acted correctly and slammed the “dangerous” actions of protesters.
Several criminal probes into violence against police were launched, although protesters said it was the police who used excessive force.
Photo: Reuters
Many spent the night in police stations and were shuttled to court for violating demonstration regulations that could see them spend up to 15 days in jail.
At the Tverskoi District Court in Moscow, 19-year-old Roman said he was grabbed by five riot policemen before being bundled into a van with 20 others.
“They put me in an arm lock and hit me in the stomach,” said the student, who could face a fine after attending his first unauthorized rally.
Photo: Reuters
Others were less lucky, with the same court sentencing three people to 10 days in jail.
The Moscow protest was originally sanctioned in a different location, but Navalny changed the venue, saying that authorities were blocking efforts to rent a stage and sound equipment.
He called on supporters to go to the arterial Tverskaya Street instead.
He himself never made it to the protest as police arrested him in the stairwell of his apartment building before the rally began.
The 41-year-old has announced his intention to run for president against Russian President Vladimir Putin and has been campaigning relentlessly around the nation while also mounting a strong online presence via YouTube videos, attracting a younger generation, including minors.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said authorized rallies were “normal,” but dubbed people taking their protest to city festivities as “provocateurs.”
The powerful Russian Investigative Committee yesterday said one protester “sprayed tear gas into the eyes of a riot police officer who was carrying out his duties during the unsanctioned rally” and would be charged.
Another criminal case was launched in Saint Petersburg, where a policeman had a tooth knocked out, local news Web site Fontanka reported.
The protests in cities from Vladivostok to the Black Sea resort of Sochi and Norilsk beyond the Arctic Circle follow a previous unsanctioned rally called by Navalny on March 26 that sparked a similar police reaction.
The rallies are the largest to be held nationwide since a wave of street actions in 2011 to 2012 protesting against Putin’s re-election to a third Kremlin term.
The arrests have drawn condemnation from Washington, Brussels and several human rights organisations, who called on protesters to be released.
“The Russian people deserve a government that supports an open marketplace of ideas,” White House spokesman Sean Spicer said.
Amnesty International said that “a crackdown on peaceful protests in which hundreds of people were arrested and numerous others beaten by police demonstrates the authorities’ utter contempt for fundamental human rights.”
UKRAINE, NVIDIA: The US leader said the subject of Russia’s war had come up ‘very strongly,’ while Jenson Huang was hoping that the conversation was good Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and US President Donald Trump had differing takes following their meeting in Busan, South Korea, yesterday. Xi said that the two sides should complete follow-up work as soon as possible to deliver tangible results that would provide “peace of mind” to China, the US and the rest of the world, while Trump hailed the “great success” of the talks. The two discussed trade, including a deal to reduce tariffs slapped on China for its role in the fentanyl trade, as well as cooperation in ending the war in Ukraine, among other issues, but they did not mention
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi yesterday lavished US President Donald Trump with praise and vows of a “golden age” of ties on his visit to Tokyo, before inking a deal with Washington aimed at securing critical minerals. Takaichi — Japan’s first female prime minister — pulled out all the stops for Trump in her opening test on the international stage and even announced that she would nominate him for a Nobel Peace Prize, the White House said. Trump has become increasingly focused on the Nobel since his return to power in January and claims to have ended several conflicts around the world,
REASSURANCE: The US said Taiwan’s interests would not be harmed during the talk and that it remains steadfast in its support for the nation, the foreign minister said US President Donald Trump on Friday said he would bring up Taiwan with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) during a meeting on the sidelines of the APEC Summit in South Korea this week. “I will be talking about Taiwan [with Xi],” Trump told reporters before he departed for his trip to Asia, adding that he had “a lot of respect for Taiwan.” “We have a lot to talk about with President Xi, and he has a lot to talk about with us. I think we’ll have a good meeting,” Trump said. Taiwan has long been a contentious issue between the US and China.
Taiwan’s first African swine fever (ASF) case has been confirmed and would soon be reported to the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH), Minister of Agriculture Chen Junne-jih (陳駿季) yesterday. The Ministry of Agriculture’s Veterinary Research Institute yesterday completed the analysis of samples collected on Tuesday from dead pigs at a hog farm in Taichung and found they were ASF-positive. Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency Animal Quarantine Division chief Lin Nien-nung (林念農) said the result would be reported to the WOAH and Taiwan’s major trade partners would also be notified, adding that pork exports would be suspended. As of Friday, all samples
RSS