Russian court outlaws opposition leader Navalny's groups
Source: Associated Press
Russian court outlaws opposition leader Navalnys groups
By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV
June 9, 2021
MOSCOW (AP) A Moscow court on Wednesday night outlawed the organizations founded by Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny by labeling them extremist, the latest move in a campaign to silence dissent and bar Kremlin critics from running for parliament in September.
The Moscow City Courts ruling, effective immediately, prevents people associated with Navalnys Foundation for Fighting Corruption and his sprawling regional network from seeking public office. Many of Navalnys allies had hoped to run for parliamentary seats in the Sept. 19 election.
The ruling, part of a multipronged Kremlin strategy to steamroll the opposition, sends a tough message one week before President Vladimir Putin holds a summit meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden in Geneva.
The extremism label also carries lengthy prison terms for activists who have worked with the organizations, anyone who donated to them, and even those who simply shared the groups materials.
Navalny, Putins most ardent political foe, was arrested in January upon returning from Germany, where he spent five months recovering from a nerve agent poisoning that he blames on the Kremlin an accusation that Russian officials reject. In February, Navalny was given a 2 1/2-year prison term for violating the terms of a suspended sentence from a 2014 embezzlement conviction that he dismissed as politically motivated.
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