Russia now visits those who paid their last respects to Navalny (former Ticino bank BSI convicted by the Federal Prosecutor’s Office for money laundering

Alexei Navalny was one of the loudest critics of Russian President Vladimir Putin. That probably cost him his life, because Navalny died on February 16, 2024 in a Russian prison camp. Presumably a natural death after a walk, as Russian authorities claim.

The abdication ceremony for Navalny was scheduled last Friday at a small church in Moscow and the burial site was announced at a small cemetery in Moscow. Tens of thousands of people flocked to the church and cemetery to pay their last respects to Alexei Navalny. “Nawalny, Navalny, Navalny!” the crowd chanted.

Scores of government critics and even foreign diplomats were in the crowd. Nevertheless, Russian security forces exercised restraint.

But now the wind seems to be changing. Russia uses facial recognition to detect the people who attended the funeral – and visits them.

More arrests are likely to follow

The independent news portal Semafor quoted Dmitry Anisimov, a spokesperson for the human rights organization OVD-Info. He says that “a woman who shouted ‘Glory to the Heroes’ (Herojam Slawa), the traditional response to ‘Glory to the Ukraine’ (Slawa Ukrajini), during the funeral was visited at home by authorities and arrested.”

She was fined, but was allowed to go home the next day.

On Thursday it was announced that US Ambassador Lynne Tracy had also been summoned by the Russian Foreign Ministry. She was filmed prominently in the crowd in front of the church during Navalny’s abdication. The ministry now accuses her of “attempting to interfere in internal affairs,” according to a statement from Russia’s diplomatic department.

Russian authorities did not specifically mention Navalny’s funeral in the statement. They accuse three American organizations of carrying out “programs and projects with an anti-Russian orientation” with the support of the embassy and thereby “recruiting influential agents.” If U.S. Embassy representatives participate in the organizations’ actions, they would be threatened with deportation, the State Department said.

Anisimov explains that it is a well-known tactic of the Russian authorities to only make arrests after unpleasant events. Since Navalny’s death, at least 400 people have been arrested across Russia for, for example, laying flowers at memorials. OVD-Info assumes that more people will now be affected after the funeral.

Big Brother is watching you

These people would likely be searched for and found using facial recognition – and then followed ‘to their front door’, says OVD-Info. Days before the funeral, cameras were installed around the church and cemetery.

The arrests are said to be the latest evidence of the Kremlin’s growing reliance on surveillance technology to maintain repression against Kremlin critics. A March 2023 Reuters investigation found that facial recognition and surveillance cameras had played a role in the arrest of hundreds of protesters – since the Russian army invaded Ukraine on its own.

Moscow’s hundreds of thousands of surveillance cameras were originally touted as a way to catch criminals and improve public safety. (yam)