The video of a Russian student removing a portrait of President Vladimir Putin from the classroom wall has gone viral, a day before planned protests against the imprisonment of the Kremlin’s poisoned critic Alexei Navalny, according to a report.
Alina Morozova, a Jaroslavl student believed to be 16, was ordered to a police station with her father to explain her act of defiance, East2West News reported.
Videos of schoolchildren replacing Putin’s portraits in their classrooms with those of Navalny have gone viral on TikTok.
Apparently, the teenager has not broken any law by removing the photo of the strong man, so at least for now, he is not facing any punishment, according to the media.
“The arrest of Alexei Navalny caused a great resonance not only among young people but also among adults,” said Alina, who posted a video of her act on TikTok.
“At TikTok, that resonance is impossible not to notice: everything screams about it, even jokes about it appear,” he said. “I didn’t think at all that the video would get 2 million views completely.”
The girl added that her teacher and the school principal have confronted her with her actions.
“Everyone had different opinions about my act and they have a right to do so,” the teenager said.
But the portrait of the president, according to the law, is not a state symbol, he said, explaining why it is not illegal to remove it.
“With my video, I expressed my civic position to which everyone in the school is entitled,” Alina said.
But her teachers eventually reported her to police, Alina added, saying they had a “preventive conversation” with her about the incident.
Russia’s Ministry of Education has issued a statement urging parents to “protect” their children from events scheduled for Saturday, saying “no one has the right to drag young people into various political actions and provocations.”
Meanwhile, Moscow police arrested three top Navalny partners on Thursday evening.
On Friday, spokeswoman for jailed dissident Kira Yarmysh was ordered to spend nine days behind bars, while Georgy Alburov was jailed for ten days.
Navalny’s close ally, Lyubov Sobol, was released Thursday afternoon, but a court ordered a fine equivalent to $ 3,300. All three have been charged with violating protest regulations.
More than a dozen Navalny activists and allies in various Russian regions have also been arrested.
With protests planned by his followers on Saturday, Russia’s Attorney General’s Office and police have issued public warnings against attending or convening unauthorized rallies.
Prosecutors also demanded that Roskomnadzor, Russia’s media and Internet watchdog, restrict access to websites containing calls to protest.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that “it is natural that there are warnings … about the possible consequences related to breaking the law,” as “illegal and unauthorized acts” are being called for.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin urged residents not to attend a rally, citing concerns about the coronavirus, and called the demonstration “illegal.”
Navalny was arrested Sunday when he returned to Russia from Germany, where he had spent nearly five months recovering from the nerve agent poisoning he blames on the Kremlin.
On Monday, a judge ordered him to be jailed for 30 days in connection with alleged violations of the suspended prison sentence in a case of embezzlement that insists he was deceived.
With publishing cables