Russian repression - over a thousand protesters arrested in Moscow

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

Russian Police Arrest More Than 1,000 in Moscow Election Protest

Police in Russia detained more than 1,000 people in Moscow Saturday in what was the biggest crackdown of dissent in recent times and a sign that the opposition is becoming more defiant as it stands up to President Vladimir Putin’s stronghold on power. The protesters were demonstrating against the move to exclude opposition candidates from the ballot for Moscow’s city council. Several opposition activists who had sought to run in the September election were arrested before the protest even began. Overall, police arrested 1,074 protesters throughout the long demonstrations that lasted around seven hours, according to Russian state news agencies that cited police figures. An independent monitor cited by the New York Times put the number of arrests slightly lower at 938.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny hospitalized in Moscow

Navalny was taken by ambulance to the hospital early Sunday morning after suffering what authorities said was a “severe allergic reaction,” the spokeswoman, Kira Yarmysh wrote on Twitter.

Navalny's face was swollen, his skin red, and he was now in a ward at Moscow's City Hospital 64, where police were guarding his bedside, according to Yarmysh.

She said the cause of the allergy had not yet been identified, and noted that Navalny “all his life has never before experienced an allergic reaction.” She added that he was receiving "all necessary medical care."

[brucejoel99]

Not surprised, though fortunately for him, he's gained enough popularity to not have a "mysterious accident."

[kelestian]

How ironic. Huge crysis because of low-level election in Moscow Council. Truly authorities are breathtakingly stupid

[Crumpets]

From Reuters: Russian opposition leader Navalny may have been poisoned: doctor

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was hospitalized on Sunday after suffering an acute allergic reaction which one doctor said may have been the result of him being poisoned with an unknown chemical substance.


Navalny, 43, was rushed to hospital from jail where he is serving a 30-day sentence for violating tough protest laws, a day after police in Moscow detained more than 1,000 people for an illegal demonstration called for by Navalny.

His spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh said Navalny had signs of an acute allergy with “severe swelling of the face and skin redness.”

A doctor at the hospital treating him told the Interfax news agency that Navalny had been diagnosed with hives and that he was feeling better.

But one doctor who has treated him in the past and was able to speak briefly with him and look at him through the crack of a door on Sunday said she could not rule out that he had been poisoned.

[brucejoel99]

From Reuters: Russian opposition leader Navalny may have been poisoned: doctor

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was hospitalized on Sunday after suffering an acute allergic reaction which one doctor said may have been the result of him being poisoned with an unknown chemical substance.


Navalny, 43, was rushed to hospital from jail where he is serving a 30-day sentence for violating tough protest laws, a day after police in Moscow detained more than 1,000 people for an illegal demonstration called for by Navalny.

His spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh said Navalny had signs of an acute allergy with “severe swelling of the face and skin redness.”

A doctor at the hospital treating him told the Interfax news agency that Navalny had been diagnosed with hives and that he was feeling better.

But one doctor who has treated him in the past and was able to speak briefly with him and look at him through the crack of a door on Sunday said she could not rule out that he had been poisoned.

OMFG! Nobody could've seen this coming! A Russian opposition leader coming down with a sudden, bizarre, unforeseen, previously undiagnosed, life-threatening allergy? That just happens so often, so of course nobody suspects poison.

[dead0man]

It's almost like Russia is being run by some ex-spook who would stop at nothing to maintain his power and his bank account.

[brucejoel99]

It's almost like Russia is being run by some ex-spook who would stop at nothing to maintain his power and his bank account.

Oh, of course not! No! Not at all!

/s (if it wasn't obvious)

[kelestian]

Developments: Navalny now seems to be ok, but FSB opened case of "mass riots on 27th of July" (there werent any riots, just police beating peaceful protesters). It's a big deal, because "mass riots" is serious crime, probably we are looking for multiple prison terms for ordinary protesters.

[Sir Mohamed]

Trump: Good people on one side. Spoiler: Not the protesters.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Who care

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

Russian Police Detain Over 1,000 Opposition Protesters in Central Moscow (again)

Police removed Sobol, an ally of jailed opposition politician Alexei Navalny, from a taxi and bundled her into a van minutes before the start of what anti-Kremlin activists described as a peaceful walk to protest against the exclusion of their candidates from an election next month.

In another blow to Navalny, Russian investigators opened a criminal investigation into the alleged laundering of 1 billion rubles ($15.3 million) by his anti-corruption foundation. Navalny and his allies say the foundation, which has published a slew of embarrassing investigations into government officials, is transparently financed from public donations.

OVD-Info, an independent monitoring group, said police had detained 1,001 people in Moscow on Saturday, in some cases beating them with truncheons as they lay on the floor. Reuters reporters witnessed dozens of arrests. In one case police carried off a man as he clung upside down to his bicycle.

[Person Man]

It looks like Russia is either about to get whole lot less stable or a whole lot more authoritarian. Maybe both.

[PSOL]

Ukraine has offered Russian dissidents to get citizenship from just a certificate.

[smoltchanov]

I was at the meeting August 10th. Unlike previous cases - time and place was agreed by both sides, and everything went relatively smooth. The police was very polite, unlike Rosguardia members, who, this time, stood nearby the place of the meeting, but didn't interfere until it's official end at least. The only problem was extremely bad quality of microphones - half of what was said was impossible to hear even if one stood closer to organizers..

[DavidB.]

Do we have a thread like this about France too?

[Omega21]

Do we have a thread like this about France too?

No no, because Macron is a poor man of the people (definitely not some rich banker dude) who would never use the police or military to crack down on protests when he raises the price of fuel to 10 Euros per litre, and he enjoys amazing support within his country!

[Proto]

And Trump keeps silent about it. Not a single tweet.

[Omega21]

And Trump keeps silent about it. Not a single tweet.

Repression was always a thing in Russia, so a "few more" arrests are nothing out of the ordinary.

[DINGO Joe]

And Trump keeps silent about it. Not a single tweet.

If he did tweet, it would be out of admiration/jealousy, so just as well.

[America Needs R'hllor]

Do we have a thread like this about France too?

The French government isn't arresting political opponents on trumped-up charges at best or poisons them at worst, and the police there is definitely not beating up anyone who dares raise a sign. That's like the difference between the oppression of LGBTQ people in Israel and in Iran.

Who care

People who care about oppression, children of Russian immigrants like me who hate to watch the evil government in the country where our parents was born, the actual people who're being oppressed and denied basic democratic rights from their government, the brave opposition figures who risk their freedom and their very lives to represent their people, homosexuals rotting in government-sanctioned concentration camps etc. Not apologists for authoritarian regimes and for dictators who gas their own people, clearly, but that's not a surprise.