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Picket "Beep against Putin" in Yoshkar-Ola
On May 7, former volunteer of Navalny's headquarters in Yoshkar-Ola Arina Epifanova protested against the inauguration of Vladimir Putin. She changed several sites, the police unsuccessfully tried to verify her documents. A member of the political council of United Russia "promised to take measures." The correspondent of «7x7» observed the event.
The picket started at 9 am near the sculpture "Bread-and-salt". Arina Epifanova held the poster "Beep if against Putin". Drivers beeped rarely.
After an hour, Arina change the location and was approached by a hostess of a cafe located nearby. She stated that the side of the road belonged to her enterprise, and asked Epifanova to leave. The picketer refused, and the cafe’s owner called the police.
A policeman asked, if the event was coordinated, and requested documents. The activist explained that a single picket should not be coordinated. She also refused to show her documents due to lack of sighting. The policeman called someone and didn’t detain Epifanova.
The picket continued near the bridge in Krasnoarmeyskaya Street. There, an unknown man approached Epifanova and said that "measures would be taken" against the participants of the action, as "they are screwing around." Later he introduced himself as a member of the political council of the Yoshkar-Ola department of United Russia Alexey Pakhatinsky (elected in November 2017).
Later, the police arrived. Two employees asked Arina who she was and what she was doing. They had an order to ascertain the identity. The woman answered that she has not broken any laws, and refused to show documents. The police left.
The action lasted four hours. Most drivers did not respond to Epifanova's appeal. According to videographer, who was shooting the picket, the camera scared off the drivers.
"Many sincerely did not understand why we were against Putin. There were many traditional references to the fact that the 1990s were worse, and he raised the country. Some said: "Without Putin, we would not exist. Now you are studying thanks to taxes." There were people who simply did not have words, and they expressed their thoughts by twisting a finger at a temple, showing the fig or the middle finger. Some people shouted swear words and tried to provoke," Epifanova said.
Single pickets "Beep against Putin" were previously held in Cheboksary, Krasnodar, Perm and Apatity.
Denis Dolgopolov, photo by Alexey Purtov, «7x7»