Russia: Alexei Navalny's network of regional campaign offices labelled 'extremist'
File photo: A worker paints over graffiti of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny in Saint Petersburg on April 28, 2021. The inscription reads: "The hero of the new times". Photograph:( AFP )
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Navalny, a Kremlin critic, was jailed in February for parole violations after he claimed to have been allegedly poisoned in 2020
Navalny, a Kremlin critic, was jailed in February for parole violations after he claimed to have been allegedly poisoned in 2020
Russia has added Alexei Navalny's network of regional campaign offices to the list of organisation labelled as ‘extremist’.
The news has come a few days after a Moscow prosecutor requested to officially outlaw the backbone of Navalny’s political movement — the Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) — claiming it to be an extremist group.
Also read | Allies of Russia's Navalny defiant in face of possible extremism charges
After the news broke that the organisation may be added in the list of organisations that promote 'terrorism and extremism', it had decided to disband the network on Thursday.
Meanwhile, a Moscow court is also contemplating whether to declare Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) "extremist”. If declared as extremist, this would give the Russian authorities the power to freeze bank accounts of those involved with the organisation.
While the decision was being made, Leonid Volkov, chief of staff of Navalny's team, has assured that his team will continue working on their mission. "We are not going to give up," Volkov said in an online broadcast. Volkov lives in Lithuania.
Navalny, a Kremlin critic, was jailed in February for parole violations after he claimed to have been allegedly poisoned in 2020.
