On the eve of the rally "Freedom to Navalny", arrests took place in 20 cities

According to Kommersant, citing data from the OVD-info human rights center, human rights defenders are aware of the detentions in Pyatigorsk, Nizhny Novgorod, Vologda, Ivanov, Krasnoyarsk, Kurgan, Bryansk, Kazan, Krasnodar, Perm, Rostov-on-Don, Novosibirsk, Kamyshin, Bereznyaki, Tver, Ulan-Ude, Tula, Volgograd, Veliky Novgorod and St. Petersburg.

“Most were detained on the basis of posts in social networks under Art. 20.2 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation (violation of the established procedure for organizing or holding a meeting, meeting, demonstration, procession or picketing)”, - the message says.

As Ivanov's human rights activist Irina Maltseva, who submitted an official notification of the rally, wrote on social networks, she was detained on the eve of the rally.

“I didn’t make the decision to hold a rally at the Revolution, and not in Hyde Park. I understand very well what country I live in and what times are now. Notification of approval on my behalf on pl. The revolution was filed only because I wanted to somehow protect people. It didn't work out for me. The administration and the authorities have gone to aggravation”, - she said.

Officially, Maltseva was accused of a repost allegedly made to her and sentenced to three days of arrest.

“Three days of arrest without proof of my guilt. I will be released on April 23 at 17.30. Rabfakovskaya, 12. This is my birthday. So let's celebrate. If we collect the 10 thousand I spent on a lawyer, I will not object either”, - said Irina Maltseva.

Actions in support of Alexey Navalny are planned throughout Russia on the evening of April 21. Opposition supporters, outraged by the inhuman treatment of Navalny in the Vladimir colony, demand that a personal doctor be allowed to the politician and provide him with the necessary treatment. Attempts by some activists to get permission from the authorities to hold the rallies were unsuccessful.

On the eve of the protests, the Prosecutor General's Office issued warnings about responsibility for participating in unauthorized public events, and Roskomnadzor announced impending penalties for publishing and reposting about the time and place of the rallies.

In a number of large cities, the authorities, under various pretexts, blocked the approaches to the central squares, which could have been reached by the protesters. In Kostroma, for example, the city center on the eve of a snowfall was decided to "treat ticks" by banning the use of public space for three days under this pretext.

“Green spaces grow on the lawns, but it seems that most of the area is occupied by tiled surfaces. I immediately imagined how hordes of ticks were moving along the tiles, the monument.

City administration, tell me, when will you give the command to carry out acaricidal treatment of our Birch Grove at Privokzalnaya? A huge number of people pass through the grove and rest, children are taken to kindergartens, schoolchildren not only go to classes, but also walk in the grove after school”, - ecologist Irina Nazarova was indignant.

In response to this, social media users objected that in Yekaterinburg on that day they decided to hold a rehearsal for a military parade with street closures, so “Kostroma was still lucky with tile pliers”.