Page 10 - aruba-today-20190817

A10 WORLD NEWS
Saturday 17 auguSt 2019
Activist emerges as new leader of Moscow election protests

By NATALIYA VASILYEVA an audience rivaling Krem-
Associated Press lin-controlled TV stations.
MOSCOW (AP) — After a Leonid Volkov, Navalny's
monthlong hunger strike, top strategist who has
it's a struggle for Lyubov So- known Sobol for nearly a
bol to even raise her hands. decade, describes her as a
Every gesture is difficult for tough and "strong, remark-
the frail 31-year-old politi- able leader" who "always
cal activist. stands her ground."
This summer's wave of One of Navalny's original
anti-government protests disciples, Sobol has worked
in Moscow propelled her with him on various political
to the forefront of Russia's and anti-corruption cam-
opposition movement. paigns since 2011. In a blog
Her name rang out on post Friday from jail, where
the streets of the capital, he is serving a sentence for
packed with demonstrators calling an unsanctioned
angered by the refusal of protest, Navalny said he
election authorities to allow was "happy that a new, full-
independent candidates, pledged political leader
including Sobol, on the bal- has been born."
lot for the Moscow Duma, She rejects suggestions of a
or city council. In this file photo taken on July 20, 2019, Russian opposition candidate and lawyer at the Founda- solo career and says she is
Sobol has been the prime tion for Fighting Corruption Lyubov Sobol speaks to a crowd during a protest in Moscow, Russia. more focused on the com-
target of attacks by both Associated Press mon goals of the protest
the Kremlin-friendly media movement, not personal
and election officials. ed police tactics against in what has mostly been years before the U.S. spe- ambitions. "What's impor-
"The attitude to me is differ- peaceful protesters illus- a leaderless movement, cial counsel Robert Muel- tant to me is to bring to
ent because I work harder trates just how jittery the galvanized by the authori- ler indicted him for alleg- life the ideas that I came
than others and I don't let Kremlin is about the move- ties' disregard for voters' edly funding the internet to work here for," she said,
people get away with lies," ment. More than 2,000 rights. Protesters have been trolls involved in interfering sitting in Navalny's office in
Sobol told The Associated people were detained, chanting her name at the with the U.S. presidential Moscow. "I want to live in a
Press. "I'm not afraid of tell- and videos of riot police rallies as well as slogans rich election in 2016. She led a country where rights and
ing people to their face beating protesters were with wordplay: Lyubov liter- campaign this year against freedoms are respected, a
what I think of them." widely circulated. ally means "love" in Russian. Prigozhin's catering com- country with independent
Moscow has been gripped Kremlin spokesman Dmitry A graduate of Russia's most panies that were linked to courts and independent
by weekly protests for more Peskov broke a month of prestigious law school, she an outbreak of dysentery media." During the recent
than a month over the silence Monday, praising has been behind some of in Moscow schools. Prigo- protests, Sobol appeared
nearly two dozen candi- the police and saying Presi- the most visible anti-corrup- zhin denied any wrongdo- to be one step ahead of
dates from across the po- dent Vladimir Putin has not tion investigations run by ing in the troll farm and his the other opposition fig-
litical spectrum who have spoken on the subject be- the country's undisputed companies deny they were ures, going on the hunger
been excluded from the cause he views the rallies opposition leader, Alexei to blame for the dysentery strike, staging a sit-in at
Sept. 8 election. as too insignificant to worry Navalny. outbreak. the offices of the Russian
The numbers continue to about. She uncovered ties be- Sobol was also one of Election Commission and
grow: the Aug. 10 rally was Sobol, bespectacled and tween the Russian govern- the founders of Navalny's plunging into a heated and
Russia's biggest in eight with a pony tail of platinum ment and St. Petersburg hugely popular YouTube emotional debate with the
years, and heavy-hand- blond hair, has emerged tycoon Yevgeny Prigozhin, channel that now boasts commission's head.q

Kim expresses 'great satisfaction' over weapons tests

By KIM TONG-HYUNG amazing success rates" in cluding U.S. bases there. es but didn't immediately for dialogue recently and
Associated Press recent testing activity and KCNA did not describe say whether the weapons is seen as trying to force
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — vowed to build up "invin- what Friday's weapons were ballistic missiles or Seoul to make stronger ef-
North Korea on Saturday cible military capabilities were or how they per- rocket artillery. forts to coax major con-
said leader Kim Jong Un no one dare provoke." The formed, but it said that the Experts say President Don- cessions from Washington
supervised another test-fir- report did not mention any tests were successful and ald Trump's repeated on its behalf. South Korea's
ing of an unspecified new specific comment on the strengthened the military's downplaying of the North's military alerted reporters to
weapon that extended a United States or South Ko- confidence in the reliability launches allowed the the launches hours after an
streak of weapons dem- rea. of the system. country more room to inten- unidentified North Korean
onstrations seen as an at- Friday's launches were South Korea's military says sify its testing activity and government spokesman
tempt to pressure Wash- North Korea's sixth round of two projectiles launched advance its short-range used unusually blunt lan-
ington and Seoul over slow tests since late July that re- from the North's eastern weaponry while it seeks to guage to criticize South Ko-
nuclear negotiations and vealed developments of a coast flew about 230 kilo- build leverage ahead of rean President Moon Jae-in
their joint military exercises. new rocket artillery system meters (143 miles) before nuclear negotiations with for continuing to hold mili-
Pyongyang's Korean Cen- and two separate short- landing in waters between Washington, which could tary exercises with the U.S.
tral News Agency on Sat- range mobile ballistic mis- the Korean Peninsula and resume after the end of and over his rosy comments
urday said Kim following sile systems that experts say Japan. Seoul's Joint Chiefs ongoing allied military drills on inter-Korean diplomacy,
Friday's launches expressed would expand the North's of Staff said the U.S. and later this month. and said Pyongyang has
"great satisfaction" over his ability to strike targets South Korean militaries North Korea has also ig- no current plans to talk with
military's "mysterious and throughout South Korea, in- were analyzing the launch- nored South Korean calls Seoul.q