Sochi residents outraged by law enforcers’ behaviour near memorial to Alexei Navalny*

Residents of Sochi brought flowers to the spontaneous memorial to Alexei Navalny* at the monument to the victims of political repression to express their grief, but the police regularly cleared the monument of flowers, a local activist has expressed his indignation. He treats the law enforcers’ actions as immoral, since they do not respect the feelings of the city residents.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that on February 18, residents of Sochi said that the police stayed on a day-and-night duty at the memorial in memory of Alexei Navalny* and questioned those carrying flowers. Some people are charged with failure to obey a lawful request of the police, violating procedures for holding actions, and extremism.

On February 19, in Sochi, law enforcers continued to stay on duty near the monument to the victims of repression, to which people were bringing flowers to pay tribute to the memory of Alexei Navalny*, stated 70-year-old activist Grigory Uchkurov. According to him, he bought carnations and laid them at the monument, but the law enforcers immediately removed all the flowers.

Grigory Uchkurov noted that during the Soviet era, he used to be an unsalaried associate of the militia, and then, in his opinion, the militia was protecting the law and citizens. “Who are the police protecting today when they openly encourage thefts in broad daylight and don’t even allow mourning people to lay flowers? What does all that mean?” Grigory Uchkurov expressed his indignation.

The activist blamed the authorities for the death of Alexei Navalny*. Grigory Uchkurov believes that on the eve of the presidential election, the power itself undermines its reputation by not reacting to the immoral actions of the law enforcers. At the same time, most Sochi activists are afraid to openly express their opinions.

*On January 25, 2022, the “Rosfinmonitoring” (the Russian Federal Service for Financial Monitoring) included Alexei Navalny into the register of extremists and terrorists. He was a founder of the Anti-Corruption Foundation (known as FBK), an NCO that is included by the Russian Ministry of Justice (MoJ) in the register of NCOs performing functions of a foreign agent, recognized as extremist and banned in the Russian Federation. Convicted on probation in a case on fraud. On February 2, 2021, a court in Moscow sentenced Alexei Navalny to 3.5 years of imprisonment in a penal colony. Later, new charges were brought against him, and his term of imprisonment was extended. In a penal colony, Alexei Navalny was charged with fraud and contempt of court and sentenced to 9 years of imprisonment. Furthermore, Alexei Navalny was also sentenced to 19 years of imprisonment in a case on disorganizing the penal colony, extremism, and rehabilitation of Nazism. In April 2023, Alexei Navalny announced that he faced life imprisonment in the case on terrorism. Recognized as a “prisoner of conscience.” The Alexei Navalny’s offices, which previously operated in the Russian regions, are recognized in Russia as extremist organizations and included in the list of prohibited organizations.