Do not go out of the metro

Navalny activists were detained in Moscow immediately after their appearance on the surface. The correspondent of Novaya was a witness to one of the detentions in Moscow and talked with the rest of the volunteers

The Big Subbotnik is a two -day action of the supporters of Alexei Navalny, planned for the next weekend after the release of a politician from a special receiver, where he spent 25 days after the campaign on June 12. The plan was this: volunteers with red cubes, huge balls and leaflets are at each metro station in the capital. The action was planned as a federal - in other cities, activists also went out into the streets. By six in the evening in Moscow - more than thirty detainees. There are detainees in St. Petersburg, Tyumen, Kaliningrad, Zelenograd near Moscow and other cities. They didn’t give cubes, the balls appeared on the surface for only a couple of minutes, and the leaflets managed to distribute very little. Immediately after collecting activists in the intended places, the police detained them.

At two o’clock in the afternoon (the time of the beginning of agitation), lonely photographers, police officers and even riot police are hiding on Manezhnaya Square under the roof of the Four Season hotel. They try not to let each other out of sight - they are here in search of the same people. Each exit from the nearest metro - along the Avtozaku. It is not clear where exactly and how to look for agitators - they seem to be a bet on surprise. Here, the “Revolution Square” has a group of people, but these are tourists. Here the girl gives out leaflets - advertising on Lapshikova.

Only half an hour later, children with two red balls leave the "Okhotny Ryad" shopping center. Olya, a girl with pink hair, and Danya, a guy with the icon "Protest Moscow". Each - 20 years, signed up for Navalny's volunteers recently. Before going to the Picket to the State Duma, they went to McDonald's. The balls were taken directly from the garden, from the headquarters.

“In the subway, we came across police officers, but everyone reacted normally to the balls,” says Olya. - Now we are thinking of going to the transition, and then to the State Duma. We will give out leaflets, tell passers -by about Navalny’s campaign, and answer their questions.

The police immediately rush to them - they persistently “help” to get into the car to verify documents. The balls are also pushed into the salon.

The head of the Moscow headquarters Nikolai Lyaskin told Novye that law enforcement officers “quickly react to red balls, almost none of the volunteers have time to start agitated after leaving the metro.

We talked with some detained volunteers:

August, 19 years old:

- I was detained at Novokuznetsk. I walked from the headquarters with a ball to go to distribute leaflets to the station assigned to me. I had to meet on the street with a friend. At some point, I felt that I was simply grabbed from behind and broke my hands. It was riot police, they did not introduce themselves, did not even ask the documents. They just put them with the ball in the car. I sat in it for an hour and a half. They brought Zamoskvorechye to the police department - here I have been sitting for three hours. They don’t tell me anything, they blame any article, nothing at all.

Yaroslav, 18 years old:

- My friend and I arrived at the Sportivnaya metro station. They only managed to take a picture of their own memory with a ball. We did not even have time to start distributing leaflets, we stood for about 5 minutes. Then the police approached us, we asked them for documents, according to our legal law. They showed and put in the car. With the ball, we went from the Taganskaya metro station here, the police paid attention to us in the subway, but they didn’t say anything, did not stop it. Now we are sitting in the Khamovniki police department, we do not know what is charged to us. We hope to leave only with the explanatory.

Gregory, 20 years:

- I stood on Tverskaya, just talked with people, handed out leaflets. The police approached me, asked for documents. I provided them with a photocopy, then they watched my bag and put them in a car carrier. Now I'm in the Tver police department. I am charged with the 20th article-illegal procession and picket. I said that I would communicate with them only in the presence of my lawyer.

Sergey, 18 years old:

“There were five of us, volunteers.” We left Borovitskaya and went along Mokhova to the Library. They did not manage to distribute anything. All leaflets stayed with us. Since there was a red ball in his hands - they immediately detained. The documents were asked and said: “You are detained”, put in the car. They brought the Hamovniks to the police department, drew up a protocol. I don’t know what to do next.