Activists place golden toilet with naked Putin outside Russian embassy in Prague

The Kaputin activist group placed an effigy of Russian President Vladimir Putin sitting on a golden toilet outside the Russian Embassy in Prague on Friday. The group calls attention to the imprisonment of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, human rights violations in Russia, and its aggression against Ukraine.

The activists call on the Czech government to keep a pro-Western orientation in the country.

At about noon, a car pulled up outside the embassy in Prague 6 and its passengers began placing golden dummy toilets and golden toilet brushes in front of the embassy. They erected a stand bearing the title "Naked Killer" on nearby Boris Nemtsov Square.

At the other side of the building, several people held banners reading "Hands off Ukraine, Putin" and "Free Navalny". About 30 people took part in the protest. At around 1:00 p.m., the event ended and the activists took the statue into a nearby park.

Police arrived on the scene after the toilets were placed and told the activists they were harming the property of Russia.

The event is intended to "support ordinary people in Russia and abroad and express Czech solidarity with the victims of Putin's regime," Kaputin representatives wrote in a press release.

The group has been vocal about Russia's support of regimes in Belarus and Syria, and has criticized Russian troops gathering at the Ukraine border.

The golden toilet references a luxurious residence at the Black Sea that belongs to Putin, according video shared by opposition leader Navalny.

"Nothing portrays the real character of the current Russian rulers more clearly than golden toilet bowls and toilet brushes in the palace of the head of state at a time when 13 percent of population do not even have their own toilet," the group explained.

The activists called for the release of Navalny, who was arrested in February after arriving to Moscow. According to a mitigated sentence for alleged embezzlement, Navalny is to spend 2.5 years in jail. He considers his imprisonment politically motivated.

The Kaputin group asks Russia to set free all its political prisoners and withdraw its troops from the Ukrainian territory and its borders.

Kaputin is an association supporting democracy, human rights, and Czech membership in the EU and NATO. In the past, it has also staged protest events against the Russian occupation of the Crimean peninsula and the situation in China.