On Monday, Moscow’s Zamoskvoretsky District Court is hearing administrative cases against people detained the day before at Bolotnaya Square. A total of 14 people were detained there.
A rally against internet blocking had been announced for March 29. The authorities did not approve it and detained the applicants, among whom were activists from the previously unknown movement “Scarlet Swan.” In Moscow, at least five people had already been placed under arrest even before March 29.
On Sunday, police officers at Bolotnaya Square were checking people’s documents and carrying out selective detentions. Among those detained were 72-year-old human rights activist Alexander Podrabinek, three minors, one person carrying a Russian flag, and another holding a “No to War” placard. The others had no placards or symbols of any kind.
Two of those detained, Vladislav Azarochkin and Artur Wagner, said they had been beaten at the Yakimanka police station.
In court, Azarochkin said he was detained after a police officer demanded that he throw away the cigarette he was smoking, on the grounds that smoking in public places is prohibited. But when he threw it away, he was told he had littered and was then detained. An administrative report was drawn up against him under the article on petty hooliganism. The court sentenced him to 15 days of administrative arrest.
Under the same article, Alexander Shelestov, Ekaterina Wagner, Yaroslav Polyakov, Mikael Makaryan, and one other unnamed person were also sentenced to 15 days of arrest. A young woman named Suzanna received 10 days. This was reported from the courtroom by Mediazona.
In Tomsk, on March 30, a court placed Anton Isakov, one of the organizers of the unapproved and ultimately cancelled rally for a free internet, under administrative arrest, according to OVD-Info. He was also charged with petty hooliganism.
In recent months, the Russian authorities have been “jamming” the internet in cities, citing threats of drone attacks, and have also been blocking individual websites and apps, including WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, and others. To use them, residents of Russia have to install VPN services on their phones and computers: these conceal the fact that the user is in Russia and make it possible to bypass the blocks. Recently, the authorities have also been restricting Telegram, which has triggered a new wave of outrage online.
