Russian court has banned Alexey Navalny’s group, saying they are “extremists”

BREAKING

The prosecution asked the Moscow City Court to name the foundation and the network of regional offices as an “extreme” group to fight the corruption of the opposition leader.

A Russian court has outlawed organizations created by opposition leaders Alexey Navalny, labeling it as “extreme”.

The ruling by the Moscow City Court on Wednesday, which is immediately in force, prevents people associated with Navalny’s Corruption Fighting Foundation (FBK) and a wide network of regional offices across Russia from seeking public office.

“It was found that these organizations not only disseminated information that incited hatred and hostility against government officials, but also carried out extreme actions,” said prosecutor Alexei Zhafyarov, a spokesman for the court.

The label means that activists who have worked with organizations, anyone who gave them and those who shared group material, can also be prosecuted and receive long prison sentences.

Al Jazeera’s Bernard Smith, from Moscow, said the court handed down its ruling after a “mammoth” session that lasted nearly 13 hours.

He said the decision “effectively” delivered “the last blow to Navalny’s political organization, when he spent years trying to confront President Vladimir Putin.”

In recent years, the FBK has put pressure on the Kremlin by publishing research on high-level corruption among political elites. Such probes have been pushed massive street demonstrations.

The court’s ruling “places Navalny’s organization here in Russia in the same category as al-Qaeda, far-right groups and Jehovah’s Witnesses.”

Smith said ahead of the September election that Putin “remains well-known but that his United Russia party is less well-known, and that there were concerns that he would lose seats.”

“It is another attempt to counter their threat and cut off opposition to the voice,” he added, adding that effective opponents of Putin are in jail, in exile or facing charges.

“So every time, people in Russia who were able to speak out against Putin and the ruling party before have been silenced.”

Attorney Yevgeny Smirnov also said in a lengthy hearing in the afternoon that the prosecutor’s motion was intended to prevent Navalny’s partners from running for public office.

“This case is related to a law that prohibits all those associated with the Anti-Corruption Foundation from being elected,” Smirnov said.

The court session was held behind closed doors as the classified materials would be discussed. The judge denied Navalny’s appeal to the defense to participate through a video link from prison and the defense rejected other motions.

Navalny, President Vladimir Putin’s most ardent political enemy, was arrested in January on his return from Germany, where he spent five months recovering from the poisoning of a nervous agent accused by the Kremlin – an accusation dismissed by Russian officials.

In February, the 44-year-old opposition leader was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison for violating the terms of the sentence that was suspended from the 2014 appraisal resolution for political reasons.

Navalny’s offices in dozens of regions of Russia already closed in April after the prosecutor ordered the suspension of the activities pending the court’s decision, but the associates of the opposition leader have promised to continue their work in different formats. According to the prosecutor, pro-Navalny groups were working to destabilize the political situation in Russia and to promote the popular revolution.

His foundation, which began 10 years ago, has consistently directed government officials with colorful and watched videos detailing allegations of corruption against them. One of his latest productions, which received 117 million views on YouTube, claimed that the prosperous palace on the shores of the Black Sea was built by Putin through an elaborate corruption scheme. The Kremlin has denied any links to Putin.

Navalny has also relied on offices across Russia to organize protests against the Kremlin and implement a Smart Voting strategy – a project to help candidates who can be in the Kremlin-dominated party in the various elections.