The authorities did not approve rallies for free Internet

The reasons for refusal were “danger of UAVs” and “Covid restrictions”

The authorities of 31 Russian cities have not agreed on actions in support of a free Internet planned for the coming weekend, Vorstka has calculated. Some of them were banned after official approval, and the organizers are under pressure.

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Parliamentary parties were also denied permission to hold rallies.

Thus, in Vladimir, the authorities first postponed two rallies to April 1, but then revoked the permit due to the danger of UAVs. The same reason was given for the cancellation of the action in Murom, reported the founder of the “Headquarters of Candidates” Dmitry Kisiev.

Another city where they refused to hold a rally, initially moving it to another date, is Yakutsk. The rally in Krasnodar, organized by the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, was also cancelled.

Rallies in five cities near Moscow - Mytishchi, Korolev, Krasnogorsk, Khimki and Dolgoprudny - also could not get approval, said their organizer Boris Nadezhdin . In addition, the applicants had to cancel all rallies in Tatarstan (seven settlements). The refusal from the Innopolis administration indicated that the formulation of the purpose of the event does not comply with the requirements of the law.

At the same time, the Scarlet Swan movement reported that the authorities did not approve the holding of rallies in Moscow and St. Petersburg. The administration cited Covid restrictions as the reason.

Organizers face pressure from security forces

Organizers of protests face not only refusals, but also pressure after submitting notifications. Anton Isakov, who filed an application for picketing in Tomsk, began to receive warnings about the inadmissibility of rallies, and he was also given a summons to the military registration and enlistment office to clarify the data.

Varvara Luch, who was planning an event in Volzhsk, was also given a warning. And in Rostov-on-Don, the protester, Yevgeny Makovoz, was arrested for ten days. According to “Word to Defense”, the man was searched, during which he was beaten and his equipment was confiscated.

In addition to the rallies planned for the coming weekend, the authorities have canceled rallies in many cities over the past month. Thus, they did not take place in Volgograd, Perm, Barnaul, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Voronezh, Vladivostok, Khabarovsk and other settlements. Reasons for refusal include a variety of reasons, from drone attacks to inspection of park trees. Nevertheless, the action was carried out in some cities.

Illustration: “Layout”