Employees of Navalny's headquarters in Tula were detained because of the interview

The coordinator of the headquarters of Alexei Navalny in Tula, Dmitry Nikolaev, and the press secretary of the headquarters, Philip Simpkins, were detained. This was reported to OVD-Info by lawyer Alexei Vlasov. The men were detained because of an interview they gave to the Tula PRyaniki portal.

Nikolaev and Simpkins were taken to the Proletarsky Police Department. According to the lawyers, the reason for the detention could have been Nikolaev's statement that despite the fact that the administration refused to approve the Voters' Strike action, the activists intend to hold it.

UPD: Vlasov told OVD-Info that he and several other people were not allowed into the Proletarsky District Court for an open hearing on the case of the headquarters staff. Protocols were drawn up against Nikolaev and Simpkins for organizing a public event without filing a notification (part 2 of article 20.2 of the Code of Administrative Offenses).

Vlasov called the police and wrote a statement about the illegal actions of the bailiff. According to the lawyer, the bailiffs let Nikolai Filonov, the deputy head of the Tula police for public order, attend the meeting.

• The Tula administration did not agree on the holding of the rally, and, according to Navalny's supporters, did not offer an alternative venue. The headquarters is going to appeal the decision in court.
• On December 25, the Central Election Commission refused to register oppositionist Alexei Navalny as a presidential candidate in the 2018 elections due to an outstanding conviction in the Kirovles case. After that, the politician called for a boycott of the presidential elections in 2018 and announced for January 28 an all-Russian protest action - “Voter Strike”.