Russian opposition activist is arrested for sharing ‘Nazi’ pics ahead of protests against pension reform

Stanislav Kalinichenko can’t seem to catch a break. In early August, he was released from pretrial detention in Kemerovo after four months of incarceration on charges that were ultimately tossed out. What was Kalinichenko’s crime? He hit a cop while a group of them were beating and strangling him during an interrogation.

When he came to court on September 5, appearing as a witness in a case, police officers arrested him again, this time on charges of publicly displaying Nazi symbols in a post on Vkontakte — two years ago. Apparently, he once shared a GIF that featured a few German fascists. Investigators have said nothing more about the context. Kalinichenko faces a fine of up to 2,000 rubles ($30) or, more importantly, 15 days in jail.

Why come after Kalinichenko for a two-year-old GIF?

Stanislav Kalinichenko is a blogger and oppositionist who supports the anti-corruption activist Alexey Navalny. The sudden effort to put Kalinichenko behind bars for the next two weeks could be part of Russian law enforcement agencies’ nationwide effort to lock up the leaders and promoters of Navalny’s September 9 protests against the government’s plan to raise the country’s retirement age.

Navalny will miss the upcoming demonstrations, as he is currently serving a 30-day jail sentence for organizing similar unpermitted rallies in January. (On September 5, he lost his appeal against the jail sentence.) Police have targeted the Navalny coalition’s local leaders, as well, in Novosibirsk and Moscow, for example.