Russia has placed a high-profile associate of jailed opposition figure Alexey Navalny on the interstate wanted list over his alleged role in organizing two weekends of unauthorized demonstrations in cities across the country.
On Wednesday, a court in the Russian capital told reporters that Leonid Volkov, who formerly served as chief of staff to anti-corruption activist Navalny and now runs his network of regional offices, is being sought by police. A native of the Ural city of Ekaterinburg, about 1,000km east of Moscow, Volkov now lives in Lithuania.
The activist stands accused of inducing other people to violate Russia’s Covid-19 pandemic prevention laws by calling for a series of protests in the country. Additionally, he faces a criminal case for allegedly encouraging children to participate in the unauthorized rallies that took place in support of Navalny following his arrest earlier this month.
Last week, police in Ekaterinburg conducted a search of an apartment owned by Volkov’s parents. According to his mother, Susanna Volkova, three “polite and restrained” officers visited the property to make inquiries. “He hasn’t lived here for 21 years, and he hasn’t registered here for about 10 years,” Volkova told the newspaper Novaya Gazeta.
Volkov has been one of the most visible of Navalny’s associates online, directing two consecutive weekends of protest from a YouTube live stream. On Friday, he said that further activities would be paused until the spring and summer, ahead of elections to the country’s national parliament. “It’s better to end it on a high note,” he added. However, on Monday, he unexpectedly announced a new form of protest for the coming days, asking people to shine flashlights in their neighborhood gardens.
In a statement issued on Wednesday morning, Volkov told journalists that “this is a made-up non-existent case. This is a PR campaign of for the Investigative Committee. I don’t care at all.”
The interstate wanted list applies throughout the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), which includes Russia, Belarus, and seven other former Soviet republics. The Baltic states, including Lithuania, are not members of the CIS and do not routinely enforce arrest warrants issued in this way.
Like this story? Share it with a friend!
Russia has placed a high-profile associate of jailed opposition figure Alexey Navalny on the interstate wanted list over his alleged role in organizing two weekends of unauthorized demonstrations in cities across the country. Read Full Article at RT.com Read More
Does China’s more ambitious foreign policy and bid for “national rejuvenation” come at America’s expense? It’s a question where some neoliberals and some on the anti-imperialist left converge – in opposition to Washington’s conventional wisdom. Most of the DC Establishment now takes for granted that, obviously, China seeks to displace the United States in Asia […]
Authored by CJ Hopkins via The Consent Factory, In The Covidian Cult (Part I) and (Part II), I characterized the so-called “New Normal” as a “global totalitarian ideological movement.” Since I published those essays, more and more people have come to see it for what it is, not “insanity” or “an overreaction,” but, in fact, a new form […]
The UK-EU Clash Over Northern Ireland Will Have Grave Consequences Authored by Patrick Cockburn, “Get your retaliation in first,” is a cynical old saying in Northern Irish politics that means you hit your opponent whenever you can without waiting for a provocation. It neatly captures the violent traditions of the province and explains why the […]
