Russian opponent Alexeï Navalny, already incarcerated for fraud, was charged on Wednesday with another crime punishable by three years in prison, increased pressure from the authorities before the legislative elections in September.
This accusation comes after months of efforts by the Russian authorities to liquidate the movement of Alexei Navalny, whose organizations have been declared “extremists” by the courts and banned, and whose various collaborators and relatives are the subject of various legal proceedings.
The Kremlin’s anti-corruption and bête noire activist Alexeï Navalny, 45, is now charged with “undermining the identity and rights of citizens” because his Anti-Corruption Fund (FBK) “incited citizens to commit acts. illegal “, in particular” calling them to participate in unauthorized meetings “.
According to the Investigative Committee of Russia, the opponent and his collaborators “organized the dissemination on their personal Internet pages and on the pages of the FBK (…) of publications in which Russian citizens were asked to participate in meetings. unauthorized in January. ” when several demonstrations were held in support of Alexeï Navalny to protest his arrest.
“Navalny was aware of the illegal nature” of these meetings, investigators said.
The opposition team for its part denounced a “stupid” accusation on Telegram, asking once again the Russians to “vote intelligently” in September giving their voice to the candidate best placed to beat the one in power in the absence of candidates from the formation. of the Kremlin’s No. 1 opponent.
“Nobody undermines the identity and rights of citizens like (President Vladimir) Putin himself and all his henchmen,” joked the opponent’s team.
“The only rights we want to violate are those (…) that these thieves invented: infinite power, the possibility of stealing our money from the budget and not taking into account the opinion of the public,” he added. .
Alexei Navalny’s movement has faced unprecedented pressure since the opponent’s return to Russia in January, after several months of convalescence in Germany from a poisoning of which he accuses the Kremlin.
Its organizations were liquidated in early August after being classified as “extremists”, the websites linked to it were blocked by order of the authorities and several of its employees are subject to various legal processes ranging from violations “of health regulations “to the financing of” extremist “organizations.