In St. Petersburg, law enforcement detained a local resident because of a portrait of Alexei Navalny, with which he came to lay flowers in memory of the murdered politician Boris Nemtsov on February 28. This was reported to "OVD-Info"** by the detainee's wife.
The St. Petersburg resident came to the monument to the victims of political repression and placed photos of Nemtsov and Navalny next to it. He was not detained at that time.
However, on March 4, he was removed from the train and taken to the police department, where a report was filed for displaying "prohibited symbols".
Sergey Podolsky, a lawyer from "OVD-Info", said that the man was released under an obligation to appear. The date of the court hearing for his administrative case has not yet been set.
As noted by "Network Freedoms", a new judicial practice is emerging that prohibits even photographs of Alexei Navalny. Previously, there were cases of prosecution under Article 20.3 of the Administrative Code for posts with photos of Alexei Navalny, but in all known cases, the photos also included other symbols of banned organizations associated with him. The situation changed after the murder of Alexei Navalny, now even the name and photographs of the politician are considered "prohibited symbols".
* Included in the list of "terrorists and extremists".
** Recognized in Russia as a "foreign agent".