In some Russian regions, courts have deemed the name ‘Navalny’ a banned extremist symbol. On this basis, people who wrote the name of the murdered opposition leader on posters could be sentenced to administrative penalties.
The NGO ‘First Department’ referred to judgments in which people were sentenced to administrative arrest after commemorative events for using the name ‘Nawalny’. The reason for this was that the politician’s first and last name referred to extremist and banned organizations such as the “Nawalny Staff”, the “Fund to Combat Corruption” (FBK) and the “Fund for the Protection of Civil Rights” (FSPG). .
According to the report, such cases occurred in Chelyabinsk, Krasnodar, Murmansk and Ulkanovsk. “The court rulings show that this practice occurs in different regions. This means one thing: there is a written order from above,” said Yevgeny Smirnov, lawyer for the NGO.
Action on social media?
It remains unclear how Russian law enforcement authorities will deal with the mention of the name “Navalny” on social networks. “Theoretically, they could also use this interpretation against those who wrote on social media and even against those who were at the funeral,” the First Department said. Although this is not considered likely, the practice will be monitored. More than 100 people were arrested at funeral ceremonies on Friday (see video above).
There will likely be no investigation into Alexei Navalny’s death. “We consider the call for ‘transparent, independent investigation’ as nothing more than gross interference in the internal affairs of our country,” Russian diplomat Aleksandr Volgarev said. The majority of Western diplomats in the OSCE do not understand who this deceased Russian citizen was. Volgarev portrayed Navalny as an economic criminal and nationalist who was supported by Western secret services.
From Austria, Chancellor Karl Nehammer and Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg (both ÖVP), among others, had called for an investigation. Nehammer countered that this would probably be “beyond difficult.”
Source: Krone
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