Navalny’s network labelled ‘extremist’
Russia on Friday added jailed opposition politician Alexei Navalny’s political network to its database of terrorist and extremist organisations, banning the group in Russia.
The network appeared on a list maintained by Russia’s financial monitoring service after Rosfin monitoring said on Friday it updated the list. The network of Navalny’s regional offices had disbanded on Thursday in anticipation of the move. Organisations on the list include the IS group and al-Qaeda.
It was not clear whether the move was related to a request by prosecutors this month to designate President Vladimir Putin’s critic’s regional network and his Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) as extremist organisations.
But the former coordinator of Navalny’s offices in Moscow, Oleg Stepanov, indicated that the move was connected to the ongoing court case.
“Well of course, why wait? After all, the decision of the court is already known in advance: fighting corruption in Putin’s Russia is ‘extremism’,” he said. “They don’t even try to create the appearance of legality.” The FBK did not appear on the list. The court hearings in the case will resume on May 17.
The regional network was founded during Navalny’s presidential campaign in 2018.