Surveillance and arrests at Navalny's funeral spotlight Russian crackdown
The arrests of individuals who attended Navalny's funeral on 1 March have been reported by the independent Russian portal Meduza, citing the human rights defender group OVD-Info. Officers are identifying participants through video recordings.
6 March 2024 15:35
Russian police search the internet
According to Meduza, several arrested individuals were captured by surveillance cameras during the event, while others appeared in materials published on the internet later. A Moscow resident was accused of "using a forbidden symbol". During the funeral, this individual voiced the words "Glory to the heroes", which is tied to Ukrainian rhetoric ("Glory to Ukraine"). The police were informed about this through a video recording.
The Moscow facial recognition system is said to enable authorities to "trace the path of every individual right to their door", according to OVD-Info spokesperson Dmitry Anisimow, speaking to the Agentstvo portal.
Navalny's funeral
On the day of the opposition leader's funeral across 20 cities in Russia, 103 people were arrested, as reported by PAP, referring to the OVD-Info project. On 16 February, Russian authorities announced the sudden death of Vladimir Putin's most well-known political opponent. Navalny was reported to have died in a penal colony north of the Arctic Circle. At the time, the opposition leader was serving a 19-year prison sentence.
