Paul Goble
Staunton, Feb. 22 – The ‘I/We are Sergey Furgal” movement which emerged in Khabarovsk after Putin dismissed the popular opposition governor, organized daily street demonstrations in the second half of 2020 and in 2021, and captured the imagination of Russians everywhere has been declared extremist by a Russian court in that far eastern city.
The Khabarovsk Kray court agreed with prosecutors that the group was “extremist” because it promoted hostility to the political authorities and thus undermined the stability and values of society (sova-center.ru/misuse/news/persecution/2024/02/d49351/ and transsibinfo.com/news/2024-02-22/dvizhenie-storonnikov-sergeya-furgala-priznali-ekstremistskim-v-habarovskom-krae-5006098).
The I/We are Sergey Furgal movement faded from public view when the covid pandemic gave officials there the chance to ban all public demonstrations, but the decision now suggests that Moscow still fears a recurrence there that could well inspire people in other Russian regions to take similar actions.
For background on this remarkable manifestation of Russian popular action, see windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2021/07/khabarovsk-residents-still-protesting.html, windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2021/06/protests-will-continue-even-if-moscow.html, windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2021/01/protests-continue-in-khabarovsk-and.html, windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2020/10/putinism-and-fascism-are-synonyms.html, windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2020/08/as-protests-enter-third-week-khabarovsk.html, windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2020/08/long-dormant-institutions-of-democracy.html and windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2020/08/focus-of-khabarovsk-protests-shifts.html.
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