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Russia has outlawed Alexei Navalny’s organization as “extreme”

Russia has outlawed the organization created by imprisoned opposition activist Alexei Navalny for being “extremist,” a label that bans his supporters from running in elections and threatens them with years in prison.

A Moscow court ruled on Wednesday that the Navalny Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) and its national network of political activities should be classified alongside Isis and Al-Qaeda, right-wing groups said it was part of a Kremlin. campaign to silence the opposition To President Vladimir Putin ahead of the September parliamentary elections.

Navalny, Putin’s most notable critic, was arrested in January and sentenced to death the following month two and a half years in prison Upon his return to Russia, he recovered from the poisoning of nerve agents, which he said was an assassination attempt ordered by the Kremlin.

“FBK and Navalny’s headquarters are recognized as an extremist organization,” the group’s lawyers said. “As a result, their activity on Russian territory is banned, and all workers who continue to work for them are threatened with a real prison sentence.”

According to partial transcripts provided by FBK lawyers, the Russian prosecutor argued that Navalny’s teamThrough Navalny’s imprisonment and the organization of activism and protests against Putin, “they created conditions to destabilize the social and socio-political situation in the guise of their liberal slogans… To take people to the streets to change the government by force.”

The prosecutor also said that FBK’s payments to help police arrested detainees with legal fees should be classified as “funding for extreme activities” and suggested that those who received the funds could be prosecuted.

The court session lasted more than 12 hours and was held in private after it was decided that some of the material they were discussing was secret. FBK’s legal team has said it will appeal the ruling.

Putin came into force a few days after a law that made it illegal for members or supporters to come into force “Extreme” organizations To participate in the Russian elections. Anyone who is a member can be prosecuted for giving or sharing materials created or shared with these organizations, and can face up to six years in prison under Russian law.

Navalny’s regional network, which has offices in dozens of cities in Russia’s provinces, is legal closed awaiting a court decision in April. Leaders have said they will continue their activism one by one, regardless of Wednesday’s decision.

The network is a key component of Navalny’s efforts September elections the use of so-called smart voting – an initiative that directs troubled voters to help candidates who oust incumbents from the ruling United Russia party.

The U.S. State Department rejected the court’s appointment, saying it would further limit the ability of opposition candidates to vote in September.

“With this action, Russia has effectively criminalized one of the few independent political movements in the country,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said. “While the extent of today’s action is particularly worrying, the Russian government points to the growing repression of the political opposition, civil society and the independent media.”

The state department called for the immediate release of Navalny, and called on Russia to end the repression of its supporters.

FBK, founded by Navalny about ten years ago, has published several investigations into alleged financial corruption by senior Russian government officials.

In January, after Navalny was arrested, he he released the investigation he said that a click of the oligarchs was the $ 1.4 billion palace that Putin built on the Black Sea, which has since been viewed 117 million times on Youtube.

The Kremlin has denied any links between Putin or his family and the palace, as well as any links to Navalny’s intoxication.


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