Russian authorities threaten prison time for ‘Noon Against Putin’ protest, tell monitors to look for voters nervous around police

Stanislav Andreychuk, the co-chair of the independent election watchdog “Golos,” reported Thursday that election observers from Russia’s regional civic chambers have been given instructions for identifying participants of the “Noon Against Putin” protest, in which voters who oppose Vladimir Putin plan to go to the polls at exactly 12:00 on March 17.

Andreychuk shared a memo purportedly sent out by the civic chamber in the Sverdlovsk region that advises poll workers to look out for voters with Navalny symbols, white-blue-white flags, Ukrainian flags, and “pacifist symbols,” as well as voters who exhibit “nervous behavior upon seeing police officers.”

The document also lists “artificial crowd-building,” “loud and aggressive behavior,” and campaigning for Navalny or against Putin and the war as signs of that a voter is part of the protest.

At 12:00, the memo says, the election monitors should film two videos “covering as much of the territory and people as possible” both inside and outside each polling station. If more than three people accumulate in a single area in front of a polling station, the document advises observers to call the police. If the people gathering “arouse suspicion,” the memo calls for police to check their documents.

On Thursday evening, the Moscow Prosecutor’s Office issued a warning to any voters who plan to participate in the “Noon Against Putin” initiative. “Please note that neither the public mass events in question nor their locations have been approved by city authorities as required by law,” the statement reads. “Organizing and participating in these mass events are therefore punishable in accordance with the current legislation of the Russian federation.”

“Illegal actions,” the warning continued, could “obstruct citizens’ ability to freely exercise their electoral rights and the work of election commissions,” an offense punishable by up to five years in prison.

“Noon Against Putin” was devised by St. Petersburg opposition politician Maxim Reznik as a way of safely protesting against Vladimir Putin and showing voters who oppose him that they’re not alone. It was also endorsed by opposition leader Alexey Navalny before his death on February 16.