Russian court jails former Open Russia director Andrey Pivovarov pending trial

On June 2, Krasnodar’s Pervomaisky District Court remanded former Open Russia director Andrey Pivovarov in custody for two months.

The investigation petitioned for Pivovarov’s arrest. He stands accused of cooperating with an “undesirable organization.”

The criminal case against Pivovarov was opened over a post he shared on Facebook in August 2020, which contained information about a fundraising campaign in support of the United Democrats project. Investigators maintain that Pivovarov shared the post, “with the intent of participating in the activities of the undesirable organization Open Russia.”

• The Russia-based nonprofit Open Russia isn’t formally included in the country’s list of “undesirable organizations.” However, its activists started coming under pressure in 2017, after this status was handed down to the Open Russia Civic Movement and OR (Otkrytaya Rossia), which are both linked to exiled former oil executive Mikhail Khodorkovsky. In 2019, Open Russia announced its dissolution, after which it established another entity under the same name, but the Justice Ministry refused to register it. In May 2021, Open Russia announced that it was disbanding completely to protect its supporters form criminal prosecution.
• Andrey Pivovarov was arrested on May 31, after being removed from a plane at St. Petersburg’s Pulkovo Airport (the flight was destined for Warsaw). The law enforcement officers who detained Pivovarov claimed that there was a warrant out for his arrest; Pivovarov had passed through passport control unhindered shortly beforehand.