MOSCOW - Russia's most prominent opposition activist, Alexei Navalny, was fined $1,000 by a Moscow court on Tuesday for his role in a weekend protest under a new law that President Vladimir Putin's opponents say is aimed at smothering dissent.
The anti-graft blogger was among three of Putin’s foes
briefly detained at a protest in central Moscow on Saturday
following the first meeting a new opposition body to which
Navalny was elected head in an online vote.
Kremlin critics in Russia and abroad say the detentions and
fines are part of a wider clampdown on activist who led a wave
of street protests against Putin’s nearly 13-year rule.
“These constant detentions are connected to one quite
obvious thing – they are trying to prevent mass actions by
prosecuting people constantly,” Navalny told reporters outside
the courtroom.
The Moscow judge found Navalny guilty of organising an
unsanctioned protest that violated public order – a charge he
denied.
He dismissed the charges as “absurd”, telling the court he
was arrested after walking away from his post at a one-man
picket, was holding no banners and had shouted no slogans.
“Backing me: witnesses, video tapes, a report by (Russian
human rights ombudsman Vladimir) Lukin and common sense.
Against: an absurd police report. The Report won,” Navalny
tweeted after the verdict.
The law under which Navalny was fined 30,000 roubles (about
$1,000) was among a raft of new legislation passed since Putin
started his new term that civil rights activists have denounce
as draconian.
