Week-ending 2 July 2021
On 29 June 2021 Russia issued an arrest warrant for Ivan Zhdanov, director of the Anti-Corruption Foundation founded by Aleksei Navalny, and placed his name on a wanted list. Russia is asking Interpol to issue a ‘red notice’ for Zhdanov, who currently lives in Lithuania. On 1 July Moscow police searched the election campaign offices of Oleg Stepanov, a close associate of Aleksei Navalny in connection with charges of creating a non-profit organisation that ‘violates citizens’ rights, although Stepanov did not work for the Anti-Corruption Foundation. The Anti-Corruption Foundation was set up in Moscow in 2011 to investigate corruption among Russia’s political and economic elite by Aleksei Navalny. On 9 October 2019 the FBK, as it is known by its Russian initials, was declared a ‘foreign agent; NGO by the Ministry of Justice. On 9 June 2021 the FBK was designated an ‘extremist organisation’ and banned.
Sources:
RFE/RL, 29 June 2021: Russia has placed Ivan Zhdanov, the director of jailed Russian opposition politician Aleksei Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK), on an international wanted list and shared the details of his case with Interpol. Zhdanov’s lawyer, Vladimir Voronin, tweeted on June 29 that Russian authorities added his client, who currently resides in Lithuania, to a wanted list on June 18 but never informed him of the move. Voronin posted the court decision online. It says that Russian officials are in the process of asking Interpol to issue a “red notice” on Zhdanov.
RFE/RL, 1 July 2021: Police in Moscow have searched the election campaign offices of a close associate of jailed opposition politician Aleksei Navalny who is planning to take part in parliamentary elections in September. Oleg Stepanov’s support group condemned the July 1 searches as “pressure on our campaign.” Police said that the raids were linked to a criminal case launched in February on charges of creating a noncommercial organization that “violates citizens’ rights.”
