RantCrush Top 5: March 27, 2017

Over the weekend, the biggest government protests in many years took place across Russia. And on Sunday, officials detained hundreds of protesters, including opposition leader Alexei Navalny who was protesting in Moscow. Navalny has been pretty successful in gaining supporters that are tired of government corruption, and is hoping to run against Putin in the next presidential election. That election is still a year away, but the government has done a lot to stem Navalny’s chances already, such as retrying him on old embezzlement charges in February.

Russian police detain hundreds of protesters including opposition leader Alexei Navalny https://t.co/zfpWGl1rrw pic.twitter.com/pEPPqQOE0y

— Jeffrey Guterman (@JeffreyGuterman) March 26, 2017

Officials said Navalny will be jailed for 15 days because the anti-government protest was an illegal provocation. This news comes during an FBI investigation into the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia. Even though the State Department has officially condemned the arrest of Navalny and called for Moscow to immediately release him, Trump has been silent.

Donald J. Trump & Rex Tillerson’s silence on the brave protests across Russia and the detention of Alexei Navalny speaks volumes.

— Justin Hendrix (@justinhendrix) March 26, 2017

Emma Von Zeipel

Emma Von Zeipel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. She is originally from one of the islands of Stockholm, Sweden. After working for Democratic Voice of Burma in Thailand, she ended up in New York City. She has a BA in journalism from Stockholm University and is passionate about human rights, good books, horses, and European chocolate. Contact Emma at EVonZeipel@LawStreetMedia.com.