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January 29, 2021

Russian Authorities Crack Down on Social Media Ahead of More Protests as Navalny Speaks Out 
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Russian authorities are cracking down on Tik Tok and other social media
sites ahead of planned anti-corruption and anti-dictatorship protests
being planned for the weekend. Last weekend's rallies were met with
extraordinary police violence and nearly 4,000 arrests, after tens of
thousands of people took to the streets of cities across 11 time zones
in some of the biggest protests ever to challenge Vladimir Putin's rule.

Police have stepped up arrests and home searches targeting supporters of
opposition nationalist politician Alexei Navalny, who was arrested upon
his return to Russia earlier this month after surviving an assassination
attempt in 2020. Navalny says the attack, using the Soviet-era nerve
agent Novichok, took place on Putin's orders. On Thursday, a court in
Moscow ordered Navalny to be jailed for 30 days ahead of his trial.
Navalny spoke by video link from jail. 

Alexei Navalny: "I want to say one more time: you won't succeed in
frightening us. In fact we are the majority. You won't manage to
frighten dozens of millions of people who were robbed by those in power
despite the fact that those people who are now under arrest face
hardships." 



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