Persecution in Russia: More than 100 arrested during Navalny's funeral
OVD-Info, which focuses on human rights, also reported that the majority of people were arrested while trying to lay flowers at the monuments to the victims of Stalin's repressions. In the subway, the vice-chair of the Moscow branches of the opposition party Yabloko, Andrei Morev, who was returning from Navalny's funeral, was arrested.
The independent Russian portal Mediazona reported in the evening that the police are releasing people from the Borisovsky cemetery, where Navalny was buried, but are no longer allowing entry to the site, and the portal Meduza reported that this cemetery is usually closed at 5 PM, but on Friday it remained open until 7:30 PM Greenwich Mean Time.
The President of France, Emmanuel Macron, wrote on the platform X: "It took courage to go and pay tribute to Alexei Navalny. Thousands of Russians did not lack it. His legacy remains. Eternal memory".
The Chancellor of Germany, Olaf Scholz, also wrote on the platform X, that after Navalny's death "brave Russians preserve his memory: many of them were at his funeral today, thereby taking a huge risk".
Putin's regime warns protesters
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov earlier warned that participating in any unauthorized demonstrations could have serious consequences. Thousands of people wanting to say goodbye to Navalny were not allowed by the police to attend the service over his coffin.
CNN reported that its signal from Moscow was likely disrupted during the coverage of the funeral ceremonies, because for unknown reasons it disappeared 20 minutes before they began and reappeared when they were ending.
It was earlier announced that the transmission of the funeral ceremony, conducted online by Navalny's associates, was hindered due to cellular operators blocking connections. Mobile phone signals were also jammed. On Thursday, The Insider reported that an antenna used by security forces to maintain communication was installed next to the temple.
On Saturday, at least 49 people were arrested in Russia during events commemorating Navalny and anti-war protests on the second anniversary of Russia's war against Ukraine.
On February 16, Russian authorities reported the sudden death of Navalny, Vladimir Putin's most well-known political opponent. Navalny had died in a prison camp beyond the Arctic Circle, where he was serving a 19-year sentence, and he was even facing up to 30 years in prison. Authorities refused to hand over the politician’s body to his family.
