People in Russia arrested for posters of kangaroos and balloons on Navalny's birthday

Numerous demonstrations were held in different cities in Russia on Sunday, 4 June in support of the imprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who turned 47 on this day, and more than 100 people were arrested.

Source: Novaya Gazeta. Europe, OVD-Info

Details: According to OVD-Info, more than 100 people were arrested all over Russia, 55 of them in Moscow, as they protested in support of Navalny.

According to human rights activists, the protesters were arrested for carrying blue and yellow balloons, wearing jackets marked "ШИЗО" [SHIZO or prison segregation unit – ed.] and distributing leaflets with "appeal to sofas" [an appeal to Russians who sit on their sofas and do nothing regarding the political situation – ed.], as well as for holding a poster saying "Freedom and Kangaroos, Putin is a spider".

Police conducted raids on the Tagansko-Krasnopresnenskaya metro line in Moscow, seized passports and phones, and did not allow lawyers to enter the police station where they were holding the detainees. Among the latter were five minors and two journalists.

One of the first detainees in Moscow was a man carrying a poster reading "Freedom and Kangaroos, Putin is a spider", who was standing on Red Square. Recently, Navalny said that the prison staff were not allowing him to have an animal, such as a  kangaroo, in his cell. Ivan Putyatin, the man who carried the banner, was taken to a police station in Kitay-Gorod district, and a report was drawn up on him for violating the rules governing demonstrations.

According to the Beware, Moscow Telegram channel, a man who had been scattering leaflets on Pushkinskaya Square was taken into a police van. They also arrested a man who went to the Moscow musical theatre carrying a poster saying "Freedom to Navalny".

By 17:10, about 20 people had already been arrested on Pushkinskaya Square in Moscow, according to the Beware, Media Telegram channel. Among them were Yulia Petrova, a freelance journalist for RusNews, who was shooting a video for a story, as well as Sergey Surovtsev, a person involved in the "Moscow case" [a reference to his arrest in 2019 for allegedly harming a police officer at a Moscow rally - ed.]. He was wearing a jacket labelled with the inscription "prison segregation unit" in Russian.

In addition, there were arrests made on Lubyanka, Red Square, Manezhnaya Square, and Nikolskaya Street.

In St. Petersburg, five people were arrested near Gostiny Dvor, writes SOTA. Among them was a woman with a daughter who is a minor. According to Rusnews, two people who were walking carrying blue and yellow balloons were arrested near a yard. Another resident of St. Petersburg was arrested along with them.

At least two people were arrested on Palace Square, reports Bumaga and Sever.Real. Demonstrator Alexei Kucherenko was arrested on the Field of Mars, writes OVD-Info. He was taken to a police station. A Fontanka correspondent was also arrested, Avtozak LIVE reports. He was released after an identity check.

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