Politics
Russia arrests 3,800 during wide protests backing Navalny
Published
3 years agoon
By
FNN NEWSMOSCOW (AP) — Chanting slogans against President Vladimir Putin, tens of thousands took to the streets Sunday across Russia to demand the release of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny, keeping up nationwide protests that have rattled the Kremlin. More than 3,800 people were detained by police, according to a monitoring group, and some were beaten.
Russian authorities mounted a massive effort to stem the tide of demonstrations after tens of thousands rallied across the country last weekend in the largest, most widespread show of discontent that Russia has seen in years. Yet despite threats of jail terms, warnings to social media groups and tight police cordons, the protests again engulfed cities across Russia’s 11 time zones on Sunday.
The 44-year-old Navalny, an anti-corruption investigator who is Putin’s best-known critic, was arrested on Jan.17 upon returning from Germany, where he spent five months recovering from nerve-agent poisoning that he blames on the Kremlin. Russian authorities have rejected the accusations. He was arrested for allegedly violating his parole conditions by not reporting for meetings with law enforcement when he was recuperating in Germany.
The United States urged Russia to release Navalny and criticized the crackdown on protests.
“The U.S. condemns the persistent use of harsh tactics against peaceful protesters and journalists by Russian authorities for a second week straight,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Twitter.
The Russian Foreign Ministry rejected Blinken’s call as a “crude interference in Russia’s internal affairs” and accused Washington of trying to destabilize the situation in the country by backing the protests.
On Sunday, police detained more than 3,800 people at protests in cities nationwide, according to OVD-Info, a group that monitors political arrests.
In Moscow, authorities introduced unprecedented security measures in the city center, closing subway stations near the Kremlin, cutting bus traffic and ordering restaurants and stores to stay closed.
Navalny’s team initially called for Sunday’s protest to be held on Moscow’s Lubyanka Square, home to the main headquarters of the Federal Security Service, which Navalny claims was responsible for his poisoning. Facing police cordons around the square, the protest shifted to other central squares and streets.
Police were randomly picking up people and putting them into police buses, but thousands of protesters marched across the city center for hours, chanting “Putin, resign!” and Putin, thief!” — a reference to an opulent Black Sea estate reportedly built for the Russian leader that was featured in a widely popular video released by Navalny’s team.
“I’m not afraid, because we are the majority,” said Leonid Martynov, who took part in the protest. “We mustn’t be scared by clubs because the truth is on our side.”
At one point, crowds of demonstrators walked toward the Matrosskaya Tishina prison where Navalny is being held. They were met by phalanxes of riot police who pushed the march back and chased protesters through courtyards, detaining scores and beating some with clubs. Still, demonstrators continued to march around the Russian capital, zigzagging around police cordons.
Over 1,000 were detained in Moscow, including Navalny’s wife, Yulia, who joined the protest. “If we keep silent, they will come after any of us tomorrow,” she said on Instagram before turning out to protest.
Several thousand people marched across Russia’s second-largest city of St. Petersburg, and occasional scuffles erupted as some demonstrators pushed back police who tried to make detentions. Nearly 800 were arrested.
Some of the biggest rallies were held in Novosibirsk and Krasnoyarsk in eastern Siberia and Yekaterinburg in the Urals.
“I do not want my grandchildren to live in such a country,” said 55-year-old Vyacheslav Vorobyov, who turned out for a rally in Yekaterinburg. “I want them to live in a free country.”
As part of a multipronged effort by authorities to block the protests, courts have jailed Navalny’s associates and activists across the country over the past week. His brother Oleg, top aide Lyubov Sobol and three other people were put Friday under a two-month house arrest on charges of allegedly violating coronavirus restrictions during last weekend’s protests.
Prosecutors also demanded that social media platforms block calls to join the protests.
The Interior Ministry issued stern warnings to the public not to join the protests, saying participants could be charged with taking part in mass riots, which carries a prison sentence of up to eight years.
Nearly 4,000 people were reportedly detained at demonstrations on Jan. 23 calling for Navalny’s release that took place in more than 100 Russian cities.
Soon after Navalny’s arrest, his team released a two-hour video on his YouTube channel about the Black Sea residence purportedly built for Putin. The video has been viewed over 100 million times, helping fuel discontent and inspiring a stream of sarcastic jokes on the internet amid an economic downturn.
Russia has seen extensive corruption during Putin’s time in office while poverty has remained widespread.
Demonstrators in Moscow chanted “Aqua discotheque!” — a reference to one of the fancy amenities at the residence that also features a casino and a hookah lounge equipped for watching pole dances.
Putin says neither he nor any of his close relatives own the property. On Saturday, construction magnate Arkady Rotenberg, a longtime Putin confidant and his occasional judo sparring partner, claimed that he himself owned the property.
Navalny fell into a coma on Aug. 20 while on a domestic flight from Siberia to Moscow and the pilot diverted the plane so he could be treated in the city of Omsk. He was transferred to a Berlin hospital two days later. Labs in Germany, France and Sweden, and tests by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, established that he was exposed to the Novichok nerve agent.
Russian authorities have refused to open a full-fledged criminal inquiry, claiming a lack of evidence that he was poisoned.
Navalny was arrested immediately upon his return to Russia earlier this month and jailed for 30 days on the request of Russia’s prison service, which alleged he had violated the probation of his suspended sentence from a 2014 money-laundering conviction that he has rejected as political revenge.
On Thursday, a Moscow court rejected Navalny’s appeal to be released, and another hearing next week could turn his 3 1/2-year suspended sentence into one he must serve in prison.
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Politics
Suspended Democratic State Attorney Andrew Warren Seeks Re-Election
Published
22 hours agoon
April 17, 2024By
FNN NEWSTAMPA, Fla. – In a video released Tuesday morning, State Attorney Andrew Warren announces he will seek re-election to a third term as State Attorney for Hillsborough County, Florida. Warren, a Democrat, points to his proven record of reduced crime, increased public safety, and improvements to the justice system as he declares his candidacy in the race, which will appear on the November 2024 general election ballot.
“Today, I’m running for election as State Attorney to serve the people—all the people—of Hillsborough County. I’m running to keep our neighborhoods safe. I’m running to fight for victims and to make our criminal justice system better,” Warren declares in the video.
Warren has twice been elected by Hillsborough County voters, in 2016 and 2020.
During his first 5 1/2 years in office, before he was illegally suspended by Gov. Ron DeSantis, Warren worked with prosecutors, law enforcement, and community partners to:
· Reduce crime in Hillsborough County by more than 30%
· Make Hillsborough the safest large county in Florida, according to state statistics
· Invest in safety through prevention and rehabilitation, and by addressing mental health and addiction
· Target child predators, convicting an average of one predator every four days the courthouse was open
· Create and expand civil citation programs, disrupting the school-to-prison pipeline
· Establish a Community Council and a Racial Justice Work Group
· Become a national leader in transparency, launching a groundbreaking public Data Dashboard
· Reduce the criminalization of poverty
· Pursue drunk drivers with aggressive sanctions to reduce repeat offenses
· Adopt the Disarming Domestic Abusers policy to protect victims of domestic violence
A native Floridian and former federal prosecutor, Warren and his wife Alex are parents of three children—their daughters Elliot and Lucy, and their late son Zack.
The announcement video is now live on Warren’s Facebook and X/Twitter pages. It encourages supporters to visit Warren’s website, AndrewWarrenFL.com, to sign up for updates or contribute to the campaign.
While outlining his successes in office, Warren also highlights the suspension that installed an unelected political appointee into his position last year—an appointment that is illegitimate, according to prominent Florida legal experts, including a former Attorney General and Supreme Court Justice.
“On August 4, 2022, Ron DeSantis threw out your vote. He illegally forced me from office under armed guard,” Warren says in the video. “My late son. My beautiful daughters. My strong wife. They inspire me to serve others—to do good. That’s why I took DeSantis to court.”
As an image in the video quotes federal Judge Robert Hinkle’s January 20, 2023 ruling that Warren “was diligently and competently performing the job he was elected to perform,” Warren says, “The judge ruled that I did my job and the suspension was unconstitutional. But our fight is not over”—referring to Judge Hinkle’s conclusion that he lacked the authority to reinstate Warren. On January 11, 2024, the appellate court affirmed Judge Hinkle’s findings regarding the constitutional violation while clearly stating that Judge Hinkle has the authority to reinstate Warren.
Even as Warren awaits reinstatement, his announcement Tuesday affirms that in addition to winning in court, Warren intends to be back on the ballot so voters can emphatically make it clear that they decide who represents them—not a governor who broke the law and abused his power for a political stunt.
“I’m running to protect our values, for a woman’s right to choose, for a fair and just system, and—above all—for freedom and democracy,” Warren says. “I’m running to do what’s right. It’s what I’ve always done, as a former federal prosecutor, as a father, and as your State Attorney. I’m Andrew Warren, and together, it’s time we reclaim the future of this community—our community. Join us in this fight.”
Politics
State Rep. Bruce Antone’s Tuskegee Airmen Commemoration Day Bill Signed Into Law By The Governor
Published
6 days agoon
April 12, 2024By
FNN NEWSORLANDO, Fla. – Yesterday, Governor DeSantis signed into law HB 1227, Tuskegee Airmen Commemoration Day. House Bill 1227 creates the 22nd state designated holiday in the State of Florida, which is the 4th Thursday in March.
The bill recognizes the Tuskegee Airmen, African American fighter pilots, who trained near Tuskegee Institute now known as Tuskegee University. The pilots formed part of the 332nd Fighter Group which was comprised of four squadrons of African American pilots in the 15th Air Force during World War II. The Airmen were also known as the “Red Tails,” a nickname acquired from the painted tails of 332nd fighter planes, which flew over 200 missions in the performance of defending heavy bombers from enemy interceptors.
“I’m pleased, and the Tuskegee Airmen are pleased, that Governor DeSantis signed HB 1227 into law which commemorates and honors the Tuskegee Airmen,” said Representative Antone.
Florida has become one of at least 10 other states to recognize a day designating the “Tuskegee Airmen Commemoration Day” on the fourth Thursday in March of each year as a legal holiday. This special day honors the Tuskegee Airmen, who were the first Black military pilots in the United States armed forces.
Politics
Governor DeSantis Signs 5 Pieces of Legislation to Protect Children from Predatory Grooming and Other Sexual Offenses
Published
1 week agoon
April 10, 2024By
Willie David- HB 1545, which protects children from grooming activities and other sexual offenses.
- HB 1131, which establishes a grant program within the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to create online sting operations to target sexual predators.
- HB 1235, which creates stricter guidelines for sex offender registration.
- SB 1224, which strengthens the role of the Statewide Guardian ad Litem Office and implements new training requirements to ensure law enforcement properly assesses a domestic violence situation.
- HB 305, which expands the evidence that can be presented to a jury in sex-abuse cases where the victim is a minor and increases penalties on those who take part in sex trafficking of minors.
- Prohibits an adult from engaging in a pattern of communication to a minor that includes explicit and detailed verbal descriptions of sexual activity.
- Increases penalties for child exploitation crimes such as promoting sexual performances or possessing child pornography.
- Establishes this conduct as a third-degree felony, strengthening the punishments associated with child exploitation and making them more severe.
- Requires FDLE to award grant funding on an annual basis for sting operations.
- Allocates funding to be used on computers, electronics, software, and other digital assets to conduct online child predator sting operations.
- Prevents sex offenders from using a temporary residence to avoid registration.
- Requires sex offenders to register vehicles and vessels used as living quarters with the state.
- Requires international travel to be reported ahead of time.
- Makes it more difficult to qualify for registration removal.
- Creates a new role within the Guardian ad Litem Office to assist children aging out of foster care to successful independent living.
- Establishes the Fostering Prosperity grant program for youth and young adults aging out of foster care to facilitate trade school opportunities and financial literacy instruction and to provide college preparation tools.
- Creates a lethality assessment that requires responding law enforcement officers to a domestic violence incident to determine if a domestic violence victim is at risk of death or serious injury and respond appropriately. This was inspired by Gabby Petito who was tragically murdered by her fiancé Brian Laundrie.
- Allows a hearsay statement made by a minor, regardless of age, to be admitted as evidence.
- It also requires offenders convicted of human trafficking minors to be registered sex offenders on the first offense.
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