Russia cracks down on pro-Navalny protesters as they congregate; dozens arrested

Several thousand in support of the release of the Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny head to anti-the government protests scheduled across 50 Russian cities on Saturday. Calling the congregations ‘illegal’ the Russian law enforcement agents launched a political crackdown arresting scores of Navalny’s supporters to participate in demonstrations and curbed the information online, issuing warnings against the public assembly. Police dispersed mob in the eastern Khabarovsk region preparing for a rally against the Russian leader Vladimir Putin and issued emergency ‘stay-at-home’ orders. 

In an Instagram message, that he sent via his lawyer, Kremlin's anti-corruption campaigner Navalny told his followers that said he was in good physical and mental health. “Just in case, I am announcing that I don’t plan to either hang myself on a window grill or cut my veins or throat open with a sharpened spoon,” the post read. "I use the staircase very carefully. They measure my blood pressure every day and it’s like a cosmonaut’s so a sudden heart attack is ruled out. I know for a fact that there are many good people outside my prison and that help will come,” he wrote. Furthermore, he appealed to the Russians to come out on the streets and take out demonstrations on Saturday in his support. Navalny's wife, Yulia, said in an online post that she would join the protest despite warnings from the police "for myself, for him, for our children, for the values and the ideals that we share".

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Russian Prosecutor General’s Office deploys security

One of the largest protests, organised at Russia's central Pushkin Square at 2:00 pm (1100 GMT) will have the crowd march towards the Kremlin in calls to free Navalny, according to sources of Russia's state-run press. TASS reported that the law enforcement authorities were deployed by Russia's Prosecutor General to crush the unsanctioned rallies planned for January 23. Press service of the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office informed TASS, that the cyber teams blocked the pro-Navalny forces calling on Russian citizens to take to the streets in support of the Russian opposition figure. Law enforcement bodies have been told to take preventive measures, and if there are grounds for it, take administrative action against those responsible, the press service told the agency. 

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