Week-ending 5 November 2021
OVD-Info is Russia’s leading source of information about unlawful arrests and detentions, including in particular violations of right of assembly. This week the civil society group reported on the Russian March, an event held by nationalist groups on 4 November each year that has been banned by the authorities since 2019. OVD-Info reported on the arrests of dozens of participants.
This year OVD-Info was awarded the Civil Rights Defender of the Year Award by Civil Rights Defenders. The next week, on 29 September, the authorities designated OVD-Info as a ‘foreign agent’ NGO. The Committee for the Protection of Journalists called for OVD-Info to be able to ‘work freely and without government harassment.’
Sources:
The website of OVD-Info: https://ovdinfo.org/
RFE/RL, 4 November 2021: Police in the Russian capital have detained nationalist activists ahead of an unsanctioned public event known as the Russian March that has been banned since 2019. Avtozak Live online news channel reported on November 4 that at least 18 people, including reporters with the Associated Press, RBK, and Izvestia, were detained by police at a subway station in Moscow.
The Moscow Times, 5 November 2021: Moscow police arrested dozens of nationalists planning to hold the annual far-right Russian March in the Russian capital, the police-monitoring website OVD-Info reported Thursday. The ultra-nationalist Russian March has been held every Nov. 4, the day of Russia’s National Unity Day state holiday, with and without the authorities’ permission since 2005. That year, President Vladimir Putin created the holiday to replace commemorations of the Bolshevik Revolution.
