The case of the November

The call to the new revolution turned into mass detention of radical youth

Photo: Twitter / David Frenkel

On Sunday, November 5, in Russia, the inconsistent campaign “05.11.17” was held - this date of the Saratov oppositionist and video blogger of nationalist views Vyacheslav Maltsev repeatedly announced as the date of the revolution in Russia. In the center of Moscow, 263 people were detained, the Ministry of Internal Affairs said in the capital's department. According to the OVD-Info, 412 people were detained in total in Russia.

“People came to the revolution. What is the failure? "

The opposition himself on the day of the action released a video in which he estimated the number of detainees in Moscow at 3 thousand people, in the regions - “thousands”. “Hundreds are already in jail and special receivers, thousands disappeared from the special services and are now in Moscow,” he said in a video published on November 5 on the Artpodgotovka* channel on YouTube. The channel itself on Sunday was blocked for Russian service users.

“Here they write:“ Maltsev, you promised to come. People came out, you are not "

“All the scum that called themselves the opposition demonstrated their true face of Putin’s grains and frank panties,” the opposition forces that ignored his call commented on the inspirer of the failed revolution.

Maltsev himself was not on the rally. He left Russia this summer, after it became known that the case of calls for extremism was initiated against him (Article 280 of Part 1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). “Here they write:“ Maltsev, you promised to come. People came out, you are not, ”he read out during his video message one of the comments, but did not answer the claim.

“I said that there should be enough people. If you collect in one place a large number of people who are able to defend themselves, then everything will be. We do not stop our revolution, but continue. And the number of people will only pour. A large number of people came to Moscow, came to the revolution. What is the failure? " He said.

Disobedience plus terrorism

The detentions took place on Manezhnaya Square, where the supporters of Maltsev initially gathered, along the whole Tverskaya Street, as well as on Pushkinskaya Square, where the participants in the action later began to approach the call of the opposition. According to the Interfax source, some detainees were seized with cold and traumatic weapons.

In one of the protest chats, in which more than 4 thousand participants consisted of Sunday evening, a message was sent with the demands of “wait for instructions from Maltsev”, “look for weapons warehouses and armored vehicles”, “beat off their own” and “not to disperse”.

In the evening, the manager of the human rights project “Open Russia” Polina Nemirovskaya told Rain that the detainees in Moscow were interrogated in the case of calls to riots and terrorist attacks. In particular, the detainees ask if they use the Internet and social networks, whether Maltsev watched the Artpodgotovka*channel, whether the Telegram channel “05/11/17” read and as the term “revolution” understands.

According to the OVD-Info ATS, the Meshchansky police department drew up administrative protocols under Art. 19.3 Administrative Code (disobedience to the legal order of a police officer) and left in the department for two days.

The detainees at the Tver police department informed the portal that they were going to get the case in the department under Art. 318 of the Criminal Code (the application of violence in relation to a representative of the authorities).

Gray area of ​​activity

The revolution announced by Maltsev and the “November 5 case” is a typical story about organizations and political activities that take place in the “gray zones” of the special services, says Associate Professor of the Department of the Public Administration of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Ekaterina Shulman.

“The gray zone is a sphere of political activity, which is closed and the participants themselves are perceived as very radical, but at the same time it is controlled by special services,” NT Schulman explained.

Such structures are characterized by the fact that the nominal leader of the movement - in the case of the Sunday failed “revolution”, is Maltsev - is in a safe place.

“If there are secret combat cells somewhere, it means that somewhere there are very close and curators.”

“I would like to advise people to focus not on leaders, but on their interests as citizens. Do not try to find the radical radical itself, since most often these people are the best friends of law enforcement agencies, ”the political scientist said.

According to her, such organizations are distinguished by the fact that they do not try to create a legal party and act within the framework of the law, by publicity methods, as, for example, oppositionist Alexei Navalny acts, and instead are engaged in semi -legal political activity under radical slogans. “If there are secret combat cells somewhere, it means that somewhere there are very close curators,” Schulman believes.

And the date for the “revolution” by Maltsev, the interlocutor NT pays attention, was not chosen by chance. “In Russia, it is believed that the pre -election period is a period of large risks. Accordingly, special services should demonstrate successes in identifying and suppressing the activities of extremists, which you yourself in the right place and planted. ” Exactly according to the same logic of detention on November 5, 2017, it makes it clear to Schulman, became a “demonstration of success” - both before the general public - viewers and before political elites. ”

* The movement "artillery" Vyacheslav Maltsev is prohibited in Russia as extremist.