“Your event is over,” the police in Moscow closed down a large gathering of the “new Navalnys”
Half an hour after the opening, Moscow police detained all 150 participants in the congress of independent municipal deputies, which was held by the United Democrats organization.
“Citizens assembled! Your event is over upon the fact of the activities of an international or foreign non-governmental organization, whose activities are undesirable on the territory of the Russian Federation,” a police colonel announced to the participants of the congress.
He warned that in case of resistance, physical force or special means could be used against the detainees, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
Among those detained were such high-status liberals as Yevgeny Roizman, Ilya Yashin, Yulia Galyamina and Vladimir Kara-Murza.
Political scientist Stanislav Belkovsky believes that in this way the authorities are trying to make it impossible for oppositionists to participate in the elections.
“Apparently, the latest police persecution pursues the following main goal: through express sentences under criminal charges, to exclude the participation of all these politicians in the September 2021 elections. And, thereby, making “Smart Voting” meaningless to them. A. A. Navalny. We’ll see,” Belkovsky wrote in his Telegram channel.
Associate Professor of the RANEPA department Sergei Karnaukhov explained in his Telegram channel that the unwanted organization mentioned by the police is most likely Open Russia of the fugitive oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky, which sponsors the United Democrats.
“For more than a year, Khodorkovsky has been actively supporting the activities of the United Democrats, without hiding his interest in expanding the project. An organization recognized as undesirable – Khodorkovsky’s “Open Russia” – is present in its entirety at the forum. What is worth noting: Mikhail Khodorkovsky is actually trying to take all positions in the opposition political process that previously belonged to Navalny’s structures. “United Democrats” is, in essence, a “Smart Voting” mechanism, improved and promoted by Khodorkovsky. And this allows you to look at what is happening differently. Through this “mechanism,” opponents of the state are being introduced into municipal bodies throughout the country,” Karnaukhov wrote.
It is noteworthy that yesterday Khodorkovsky, in an interview with the liberal TV channel Dozhd, listed the congress delegates arrested today as people who should “replace Navalny.”
“Andrey Pivovarov is recruiting people, Evgeniy Roizman, he is now much stronger than before, Yulia Galyamina is performing well. These are dozens of people. The authorities have no good way out. If he doesn’t let Navalny out, 5 or 10 new Navalnys will appear. If he releases them, these 5-10 people won’t go anywhere either,” Khodorkovsky said.
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