Dismissals and forced resignations of officials, Russia’s strategy to withdraw support for the opposition Alexei Navalny

Physics teacher Alexei Alexeyev still can’t believe it. On February 9, he was unceremoniously fired after participating in protests in Siberia in support of jailed activist Alexei Navalny. “Now it will be difficult to find a job in public institutions because of the reason for my dismissal,” he said by phone from Novosibirsk, Russia’s third largest city.

According to this professor, his superiors accuse him of having defended in front of his students the unauthorized demonstrations of January 23 and 31 in favor of Navalny, who on Saturday saw his sentence of two years and eight months in prison confirmed on appeal.

“I never discussed politics with my students. I know you have to be very careful. When (the students) asked me if I was supporting Navalny, I said, “Learn to think for yourself,” ”said the 38-year-old teacher.

According to the file consulted by AFP, Alexeyev was dismissed for “repeated and unjustified breach of his professional obligations”. The local education ministry did not respond to AFP’s request for more details on Alexeyev’s repeated absences.

Unauthorized protests organized since the end of January in favor of Nalvany, a bitter enemy of the Kremlin, have been harshly repressed and there have been more than 11,000 arrests, fines, brief imprisonments and a hundred criminal cases have also been opened before the courts, which lead to significant convictions.

In addition, there have been punitive dismissals and forced resignations, especially among civil servants.

Professor Alexei Alexeyev explains having shared on his personal account on the social network Vkontakte, the Russian equivalent of Facebook, a photo of him during a demonstration as well as the address of the OVD-Info association, which helps to the arrested demonstrators, as well as Navalni’s anti-corruption investigation against Russian President Vladimir Putin.

According to him, these publications were reported to the management of the educational center, with which he was no longer on good terms after complaining about the lack of resources in the place where he taught. “The idea is that teachers are afraid not to share their opinions even on social media,” he says.

Several thousand kilometers away, ALexandre Riabtshuk was forced to resign from public school in Rostov-on-Don in southwestern Russia, where he had been teaching history for 7 years.

“The management asked me to delete my posts on Instagram in which I supported the opposition,” said the 31-year-old. But I refused. I preferred to defend my principles than to save my career (…) In my lessons on ancient Greece, I talk about democracy. I believe in the idea of ​​civic duty and I want to apply what I teach, ”he says.

In his personal file, it is indicated that the contract ended at his discretion. But the professor claims they forced him, after law enforcement officers came to search his home and he was jailed for five days for participating in an unauthorized demonstration.

The regional education ministry also did not respond to AFP’s request regarding his case.

Las autoridades rusas examinan las redes sociales con atención y amenazan a plataformas y usuarios porque Instagram o Facebook se han converted into an oasis of freedom of expression y en fuentes de información para los jóvenes que no tienen ningún apego a los medios de comunicación poricionales, control the state.

In addition, the Russian authorities put pressure on companies whose executives have backed Navalny.

The “Apologuia Protesta” project, launched by the NGO Agora, this week denounced unexpected checks against at least four Moscow businessmen who were recently arrested during pro-Navalni protests. “The agents ask for many documents and tell them that the tax services have ordered these checks,” according to the sources, who offer legal support to these entrepreneurs in distress.

With information from AFP

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