Stavropol residents complain about mass detentions while laying flowers in Navalny's* memory

Those detained at the monument to victims of political repressions in Stavropol while laying flowers in memory of Alexei Navalny* said that dozens of people were taken to police stations. Law enforcers demanded from detainees to provide access to their phones and sign warnings about the inadmissibility of taking part in mass rallies.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on February 16, the convicted, Alexei Navalny*, died in his colony after his health condition had sharply worsened. Some social media users in Southern Russia doubted that his death was natural. In Krasnodar, activists laid flowers at the memorial to victims of fascism; Andrei Vyazov, a city resident, was arrested for 14 days for displaying a banner from Navalny's* presidential campaign.

On February 18, residents of Stavropol laid flowers at the monument to victims of political repressions in memory of Navalny*. Law enforcers detained everyone who approached the monument with flowers, activists have reported.

In particular, Vitaly Zubenko, the head of the Stavropol branch of the "Yabloko" Party, was detained. The police began to ask him why he came to the monument. He refused to give an explanation.

When Zubenko returned to the monument, he saw that the flowers he had laid disappeared. "I treat it as an act of vandalism," he was indignant.

"The death of Navalny* is a warning about the beginning of outright repressions against political prisoners ... We now have more political prisoners than we had under Brezhnev," Mr Zubenko has stated.

Another Stavropol woman named Alina, taken to the police station, said that policemen accused her of taking part in an unsanctioned rally. The girl and her friends signed a document stating that they had undergone a talk and that if they were caught again for participating in the rally, they would face administrative liability.

*Navalny's offices are recognized as extremist organizations and banned in Russia. Alexei Navalny is a founder of the Anti-Corruption Foundation (known as FBK), an NCO that is included by the Russian Ministry of Justice (MoJ) into the register of NCOs performing functions of a foreign agent. The NCO is also recognized by a court as extremist and banned in the territory of Russia.