9-29-19 Moscow rally

  "We have to keep demanding to respect our rights because they have left us no choice but to protest in the streets," said opposition leader Lyubov Sobol at the 9-29 protest.  

  Allegations of police brutality and what many Muscovites see as harsh jail sentences have sparked an unusual public outcry.   "Not only people from the opposition but also some within government circles have been very upset and angry about these arrests."   

  The current wave of demonstrations was triggered by the refusal of Moscow authorities to allow opposition politicians such as Sobol, an associate of top Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, to participate in local elections….Investigators dropped initial "mass riot" charges against six demonstrators but some remain in jail awaiting trial for alleged violence against police, while five people have already been sentenced to lengthy jail terms.

  Actor Pavel Ustinov's arrest earlier this month was met by an immense backlash after videos proving he was not guilty of hurting a police officer were not allowed to be shown in court.

  Ustinov, 23, was sentenced last week to three and a half years in prison for hurting a policeman at a July demonstration, despite insisting he was an innocent bystander.  His case sparked a star-studded solidarity campaign and in an apparent backtrack last week Ustinov was freed pending his appeal hearing.  https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/09/thousands-rally-moscow-demand-release-jailed-protesters-190929141851193.html   and  https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-49871901

………...................................................................................

  Five people have so far been sentenced for their roles in the rallies.  Kremlin opponents see the jail terms as aimed at putting down future dissent.  One of those sentenced, Kirill Zhukov, 28, will spend three years behind bars for lifting a policeman's visor….Over recent weeks, groups of professionals ranging from teachers to doctors to Orthodox priests have signed open letters demanding the release of those sentenced. 

  Speakers during the rally included Navalny and his allies Ivan Zhdanov and Lyubov Sobol, opposition candidates who were barred from running in the city council elections.

Evan Gershkovich / MT        https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2019/09/29/the-dragon-has-unclenched-its-jaws-25000-rally-in-moscow-to-demand-release-of-jailed-protesters-a67493

……...................................…...................................................

A protester holds a poster reading "Free Yegor Zhukov!" during an August rally in Moscow, after mass police detentions. He was arrested in Moscow on Aug. 1.

Yuri Kadobnov/AFP/Getty Images  On Aug. 1, Yegor Zhukov posted his last YouTube video, making an impassioned appeal to support anti-government protesters caught up in the wheels of Russia's criminal justice system. Wearing a dark blue button-down shirt, the 21-year-old Moscow political science student leaned into the camera and urged Russians not to be cowed into silence. "Russia will eventually be free," he said. "But we may not live to see it if we let fear win."  Hours later, law enforcement agents arrested Zhukov and charged him with rioting during an unauthorized rally in downtown Moscow....though the charges against Zhukov have changed and he's now under house arrest, the student still faces up to five years in prison.Lucian Kim/NPR  https://www.npr.org/2019/09/19/761596001/the-russian-student-who-has-become-moscows-new-face-of-dissent...................