Week-ending 23 April 2021
‘On 16 April, the Moscow Prosecutor’s Office lodged a formal request with the Moscow City Court to label as ‘“extremist” and ban three organizations linked to Aleksei Navalny – the Anti-Corruption Foundation, the Citizens’ Rights Protection Foundation and “Navalny’s headquarters”. According to the Prosecutor’s press office, these organizations are “engaged in creating conditions for destabilizing the social and the socio-political situation under the guise of liberal slogans”. According to Russian legislation, membership, funding or leading ”extremist” organizations is punishable by up to 12 years’ imprisonment. Financing such organizations may lead to up to 10 years in jail and public use of their symbols and logos risks a year-long ban on running for elected office. ‘
Source: Amnesty International
Other sources:
Amnesty International, 17 April 2021: Responding to news that a Russian prosecutor has lodged a court request to declare Aleksei Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation and associated organizations as “extremist” and to consequently ban their activities, Natalia Zviagina, Amnesty International’s Moscow Office Director, said: “This looming ban has far reaching consequences for Russian civil society. Tens of thousands of peaceful activists and the staff of Aleksei Navalny’s organizations are in grave danger – if their organizations are deemed “extremist” they will be at imminent risk of criminal prosecution.”
RFE/RL, 17 April 2021: Amnesty International has sharply criticized a request by Russian prosecutors to have the Anti-Corruption Foundation of imprisoned opposition politician Aleksei Navalny banned as an “extremist” organization. “Tens of thousands of peaceful activists and the staff of Aleksei Navalny’s organizations are in grave danger,” Natalia Zviagina, head of Amnesty’s Moscow office, said in an April 17 statement. “If their organizations are deemed ‘extremist’ they will all be at imminent risk of criminal prosecution.” The Amnesty statement also decried Russia’s “long history of abusing ‘anti-extremism’ legislation and said that if the courts grant the prosecutors’ request on labeling Navalny’s organization “extremist,” “the result will likely be one of the most serious blows for the rights to freedom of expression and association in Russia’s post-Soviet history.”
Human Rights Watch, 19 April 2021: The Moscow prosecutor’s office is seeking a court ruling to declare several organizations affiliated with the jailed opposition figure and vocal Kremlin critic Alexey Navalny “extremist,” Human Rights Watch said today. If the designation is imposed, these organizations’ activities would be banned, and their staff members and supporters could face criminal prosecution and possible prison time. The prosecutor’s office should immediately withdraw its request and end this latest attempt to silence and oppress any opposition and dissent in the country. “Pursuing an extremist label against these organizations takes the Kremlin’s persecution of vocal critics to a new low,” said Hugh Williamson, Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “It is ill-founded, scandalous, and another sign of the Kremlin’s rejection of fundamental democratic rights and determination to hold onto power at all costs.”
RFE/RL, 20 April 2021: Human Rights Watch (HRW) has sharply criticized a “scandalous” request by Russian prosecutors to have the Anti-Corruption Foundation of imprisoned opposition politician Aleksei Navalny banned as an “extremist” organization. “If the designation is imposed, these organizations’ activities would be banned, and their staff members and supporters could face criminal prosecution and possible prison time,” the New York-based watchdog said in a statement on April 19. On April 16, the Moscow prosecutor’s office asked the Moscow City Court to label as “extremist” three organizations tied to Navalny — the Anti-Corruption Foundation, the Citizens’ Rights Protection Foundation, and Navalny’s regional headquarters. Prosecutors said the organizations were “engaged in creating conditions for destabilizing the social and sociopolitical situation under the guise of their liberal slogans.”
The Moscow Times, 21 April 2021: Russian prosecutors have asked a court to dissolve jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) and his regional network of headquarters, Interfax reported Tuesday. The demand comes ahead of planned protests on Wednesday calling for Navalny’s immediate treatment at a civilian hospital as his allies sound the alarm over his deteriorating health in prison. The Moscow prosecutor’s office claims that the FBK aims “to create conditions for a change in the foundations of the constitutional order, a change of government and the implementation of the scenario of a color revolution.”
RFE/RL, 23 April 2021: Few if any of the workers and volunteers in structures tied to imprisoned Russian opposition leader Aleksei Navalny was surprised earlier this month when prosecutors in Moscow began procedures aimed to officially label them “extremist organizations.” “From the very beginning…it was understood that sooner or later this structure would be deemed ‘extremist,’” said Zakhar Sarapulov, head of Navalny’s office in the Siberian city of Irkutsk. “About two months ago we had a staff meeting and we discussed this and predicted that it would happen in the immediate future.” Leonid Volkov, the director of Navalny’s network of regional offices who is currently living abroad out of concern for his safety, told Current Time the same thing.
