'Putin to the Hague': Russian police arrest protestors for holding memorials for Alexei Navalny

Protests erupted in Russia a day after the country announced the death of Alexei Navalny, President Vladimir Putin’s most vocal critic. A human rights group has claimed that Russian police have arrested over 100 people for gathering to mark Navalny’s death.

Videos and pictures from two of Russia’s largest cities — Moscow and St Petersburg — show police officials taking away placards from protesters and dragging them away from memorials held for the Kremlin critic.

A statement by Russia’s federal penitentiary service claims that the Kremlin critic died after “he felt bad after a walk, almost immediately losing consciousness” following which medical teams were called to carry out resuscitation measures. Still, they did not yield any positive results.

OVD-info, a Russia-based human rights group said that over 100 people have been arrested for holding memorials for Nevalny across eight cities including Moscow, St Petersburg and Krasnodar.

Although there are no specific details on the arrests available yet, prosecutors have warned Russians against participating in any mass protests in the country.

“All that is happening over these years, on the territory of my beloved country, is a disgrace,” one protestor told Sky News.

Protests are illegal in Russia under strict anti-dissent laws, and authorities have clamped down particularly harshly on rallies in support of Navalny.

Authorities in the Russian capital said Friday they were aware of calls online “to take part in a mass rally in the centre of Moscow” and warned people against attending.

The protests against Navalny’s untimely death are not limited to Russia as hundreds of people across Europe, including London, condemned the incident by carrying out demonstrations outside the Russian Embassy.

In Berlin, for example, many people gathered outside the Russian Embassy and chanted “Putin to the Hague” in Russian, German and English.

World leaders from across the world have come together to condemn Putin’s regime, blaming the administration for Navalny’s death.

With inputs from agencies