<http://tinyurl.com/yancbqzj> cnn.com
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny arrested during protests
Matthew Chance, Mary Ilyushina, Sheena McKenzie | January 28, 2018
.. Navalny, a longtime critic of President Vladimir Putin, has called for
nationwide protests and for supporters to boycott what he calls rigged
presidential elections, set to take place March 18.
Coordinating protests in the largest country in the world by land mass is no
small task, and the Russian Interior Ministry said events coordinated with
local authorities were held in 46 places.
Demonstrations have ranged from gatherings of a few dozen in remote areas to
about a thousand people in central Moscow -- which the Interior Ministry
described as an "uncoordinated mass demonstration." ..
Elsewhere, there were 600 demonstrators in Russia's third-most populous city,
Novosibirsk, and 550 protesters in Nizhny Novgorod in western Russia, the
ministry said. ..
...
For the whole Russia, about 5000 (cumulatively in all cities and towns) took
part in the protesting street meetings in response to the Navalny's calls
for a nationwide protest January 28.
Mr. Navalny was a promising opposition figure about 5 years ago, but since
then many of his former fans became disappointed in him. Two main things have
spoiled his political activist career. First is abuse of unfounded or fake
accusations against those whom he branded as corruptionaries. Really, in the
very recent years, in the heat of his anti-corruption activism, he made
inter alia some bold accusations that turned out to be easily verifiable as a
[deliberate] fiction. Second is his appeal for support to 'the west'. He
wrote articles for the Atlanticist MSM calling to impose sanctions on Russia,
also he cooperated with some 'toxic' persons (known as those who represent an
ugly agenda). Besides that, many dislike the fact that Navalny intentionally
uses provocative tactics on the regular basis, - by unnecessary violation of
regulations in order to make himself detained [for a short time] by the police
thus producing 'dramatic footage' for the mass media.
Post by Oleg Smirnov<http://tinyurl.com/yape2rpg>
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