Sochi sports coach arrested for 15 days after laying flowers to honor Navalny
In Sochi, a sports coach was arrested for 15 days after laying flowers to honor the deceased politician Alexey Navalny. Nikolay Zimirev is being charged with displaying symbols of extremist organizations (Part 1 of Article 20.3 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation), as explained by the Central District Court of Sochi to '7x7'.
On February 17, Zimirev brought flowers to the monument of the victims of political repressions. He was approached by the police and taken to the station, but ultimately released without charges.
According to Anastasia Panchenko, the former head of Navalny Headquarters* in Krasnodar, Zimirev was asked to come to the police station to provide an explanation regarding his actions four days later. As per 'OVD-Info,' the policemen told Zimirev that on his VK page they had found a photo from the demonstration near the Russian Federation Interests Section in Tbilisi. One of the participants in the background was holding a blue-white-blue flag, which is banned in Russia.