- Title: Moscow's metro staff say they were fired due to Navalny's support
- Date: 17th May 2021
- Summary: MOSCOW, RUSSIA (MAY 17, 2021) (REUTERS) FORMER TRAIN DRIVER, YEVGENY KOFANOV, WALKING (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) FORMER TRAIN DRIVER, 27-YEARS OLD YEVGENY KOFANOV, SAYING: "I am 27 years old, I am not married for now, but I was supposed to have a wedding in the summer. Now I don’t know because of money, we’ll think about what to do. Same with work. Dismissal under the artic
- Embargoed: 31st May 2021 15:36
- Keywords: Navalny Navalny supporters Russia metro politics staff dismissal
- Location: MOSCOW, RUSSIA / UNKNOWN LOCATION
- City: MOSCOW, RUSSIA / UNKNOWN LOCATION
- Country: Russia
- Topics: Europe,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA001EDCOBIF
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Several former employees of Moscow's metro service on Monday (May 17) gathered in the labour union's office, many of them believe they were sacked for their anti-Kremlin views or for registering support for jailed opposition politician Alexei Navalny.
Moscow's metro service has fired more than 40 people, a trade union head said on Friday. According to the TV and internet channel Dozhd, the number of Moscow Metro employees supposedly dismissed due to the leak of the database of Alexei Navalny's supporters, has reached almost 100 people.
Police have cracked down hard on supporters of Navalny, President Vladimir Putin's most outspoken opponent, after they staged several nationwide protests this year to demand his release from jail.
Some have been prosecuted for flouting coronavirus restrictions and put under house arrest, and several of Navalny's most prominent allies have left the country. Mass sackings of his supporters have not been reported, however.
Nikolai Gostev told Reuters that the Moscow metro's independent trade union, which he heads, had been approached by 40 staff, most of them train drivers who had been told to quit.
Those who declined to do so were sacked for invented infractions, he said. He added it was not fully clear why the outgoing staff had been specifically targeted, and mentioned that the charges were "fake".
"People who are on an indefinite employment contract, who performed their official duties properly, suddenly, one day, are subject to dismissal on fake charges", he told Reuters TV.
He added that the sackings could hinder the metro functioning well.
Moscow's metro did not reply to a request to comment.
(Reporting by Gleb Stolyarov; writing by Tom Balmforth; editing by Angus MacSwan) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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