Alexei Vorsin at a meeting to nominate Alexei Navalny as a presidential candidate in Khabarovsk on December 24, 2017. Photo from Alexei Vorsin’s Facebook page.

by Sarah Hurst

Alexei Navalny’s campaign coordinator in Khabarovsk, Alexei Vorsin, was sentenced to 15 days in prison today after submitting an application to hold a rally on January 28 this morning. Vorsin wrote on Facebook that he was summoned to a hasty trial by “Centre E” – the Kremlin’s Centre for Combating Extremism.

Navalny called for nationwide protests on January 28 to oppose the March 18 presidential election, from which he has been excluded. As part of his “voters’ strike” he has also encouraged people to deface election posters with graffiti about a boycott of the election, and to observe the election to try to establish the real turnout and register fraud.

“Don’t miss me and don’t be afraid of anything,” Vorsin wrote on Facebook after his sentencing. “I won’t be there on January 28, but you’ll be there.” He added a smiling and winking emoji.