Russian court jails activist over Instagram photo of ‘Smart Vote’ poster

A court in Rostov-on-Don has jailed activist Bella Nasibyan for five days over a photo that showed a poster promoting Team Navalny’s “Smart Vote” initiative, reports the BBC Russian Service.

Misdemeanor charges were drawn up against the activist, who is part of the campaign team for parliamentary candidate Alexander Ryabchuk, over a photo she posted in one of her Instagram stories. The photo showed a campaign poster for Ryabchuk, as well as other leaflets and posters, including one for “Smart Vote.”

Nasibyan was found guilty of “promoting extremist symbols” (under Russian Administrative Code Article 20.3, section 1). The police protocol emphasized that “Smart Vote” is a project run by the Anti-Corruption Foundation, whose activities are banned in Russia.

Nasibyan was placed under arrest despite the fact that she has a three-year-old child. Russian law prohibits jailing the mothers of underage children on misdemeanor charges — but the court maintained that information about the child wasn’t included in Nasibyan’s passport. According to the activist’s lawyer, her relatives were prepared to bring her child’s birth certificate to the hearing, but the judge refused to wait for them.

• The Moscow City Court outlawed Alexey Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation, Citizens’ Rights Protection Foundation, and national network of campaign offices as “extremist organizations” on July 9. On August 4, this ruling was upheld during an appeals hearing. However, no restrictions have been imposed on the “Smart Vote” brand.