- The verdict against Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny and his brother was big news on social media Tuesday.
- In fact, only minutes after the ruling was announced it became a trending topic, or one of the most hotly discussed issues on Twitter.
- With the court about to announce its ruling, Alexei Navalny's wife Yulia posted this photo on her Instagram account. In the foreground, both brothers are seen smiling into the camera. Just an hour after it was posted, over a thousand supporters had already liked the image.
- The court's decision to suspend Navalny's sentence but send his brother Oleg to jail came as a visible blow to the Kremlin critic, as many spectators in the courtroom observed.
Alexei Navalny was clearly shocked by this outcome. His brother goes to jail & he remains under house arrest. pic.twitter.com/bgvOzYMo72
Painful photo by @EvgenyFeldman of Oleg Navalny parting with his mother. More court photos http://www.novayagazeta.ru/photos/66724.html … pic.twitter.com/PAOVgyj1cD
- What will happen next to Alexei Navalny, who is currently under house arrest, was also debated on Twitter.
- As for the anti-corruption blogger himself, he made his opinion on the court's ruling clear: "Of all possible sentences, today's was the most shameful," he wrote.
- What remains to be seen is how many supporters will attend the pro-Navalny rally scheduled for Tuesday night. Will the verdict, which had been brought forward at short notice, lead to a lower number of attendants or a higher one?
TT @ilya_shepelin: Navalny: "This power torments relatives of their opponents. I encourage everyone to go out today" pic.twitter.com/e2XEGdwEwo- An hour after the verdict, 16,000 Facebook users had already pledged to attend the event.
- Previously, Facebook had bowed to Kremlin pressure and deleted an earlier version of the event invitation on its platform, causing an outcry and allegations of censorship.
As seen on
themoscowtimes.com
