At least 90 people arrested in Russia for demonstrating in support of Navalny

Human rights monitoring project OVD-Info reports more than 90 arrests across Russia at rallies in support of Alexey Navalny, who turned 47 on June 4. Half of the arrests were in Moscow.

In Moscow, police arrested people who went to Pushkin Square with balloons and signs reading “Happy Birthday,” people wearing t-shirts reading “Take care of Russia,” and a person in a jacket reading “SHIZO” (the Russian acronym for the type of solitary confinement cell where Navalny has been kept since last August). In Petersburg, at least 12 people were arrested, including a person holding a sign that said “You Are Not Alone.”

Journalists in Moscow reported that Pushkin Square, where Navalny supporters planned to gather, was fenced off and that Russian National Guard trucks and buses waited nearby. Riot police patrolled the surrounding streets.