I saw the news that the well-known musician Chris Kelmi had been fined 300,000 rubles for multiple drunk-driving offenses, and it reminded me of a funny episode from my own (also numerous) administrative arrests.
There are two special detention centers in Moscow, and I served 15-day terms in both. They’re run not by the Federal Penitentiary Service, but by the police. Most of the time the staff are good-natured guys you can have a real life talk with. They agree with almost everything I say, but “nothing can be changed” — that’s the typical attitude toward reality.
I’m more or less a celebrity, I guess — I’m on TV — so they often ask to take a photo with me. To show their friends and acquaintances: look, Navalny did time here too — standing next to me in sweatpants and slippers. And I don’t mind, of course, so I pose for the pictures.
So anyway, almost every police officer in either of Moscow’s special detention centers, after taking a photo with me, would say: and I’ve got a photo with Chris Kelmi too.