Translated material
Free Abel
National Bolshevik leader Vladimir Linderman acquitted in Latvia
The Central District Court of Riga yesterday acquitted the leader of the Latvian National Bolshevik cell, Vladimir Linderman (also known as Abel), who was accused of illegal possession of weapons. He was extradited from Russia to Latvia in February. It is noteworthy that on the eve of the court hearing, protests by the National Bolsheviks took place not in Riga, but in Moscow.On Wednesday in the Russian capital, about 20 National Bolsheviks barricaded themselves in the Foreign Ministry reception area in Denezhny Lane. They hung a banner from the windows with the text “The Russian Foreign Ministry is a den of traitors!” 12 protesters were detained, 11 of them were released yesterday. The Russian Foreign Ministry called the action of the National Bolsheviks "a riot." Latvian diplomats also suffered - on June 25, at a press conference in Moscow, Latvian Ambassador to Russia Andris Teikmanis was attacked by a young man and a girl wearing T-shirts with National Bolshevik symbols. They doused the ambassador with juice, shouting: “Freedom for Vladimir Abel!”
In the fall of 2002, Mr. Linderman went to the Saratov region to testify at the trial of National Bolshevik leader Eduard Limonov. During Abel's absence, the Latvian security police conducted a series of searches in Riga, finding a thousand leaflets and 5 kg of TNT. The leaflets allegedly contained a call for “brother Slavs” to unite and destroy politicians who advocate the assimilation of Russians in Latvia. The intelligence services concluded that Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga is in danger. As a result, seven local National Bolsheviks were detained, and Vladimir Linderman, who by that time had become the leader of the Latvian movement, was put on the international wanted list.
In December 2002, Mr. Linderman, who was in Russia, asked President Vladimir Putin to grant him political asylum. The request was denied. Nevertheless, in 2003, the Russian Prosecutor General's Office refused to extradite Linderman from Riga , recognizing the political nature of his persecution. In May 2005, Latvia again insisted on his extradition, but the Zamoskvoretsky District Court of Moscow refused to do so. In 2006, the National Bolshevik was detained again, and the Kuzminsky court decided to deport him from Russia, but Linderman managed to escape. Only in February of this year Russia sent him to his native Riga. The Izmailovsky Court of Moscow found Linderman guilty of violating the regime for the stay of a stateless person on the territory of Russia and sentenced him to an administrative fine in the amount of 2,000 rubles. with administrative expulsion from Russia.
The charge of attempting to overthrow the Latvian state system against Vladimir Linderman was dropped in 2004 due to lack of evidence. Abel himself has repeatedly stated that the case was fabricated by the intelligence services. And yesterday the Central District Court of Riga found Vladimir Linderman not guilty of illegal possession of weapons. Yesterday afternoon he was released.
It is curious that the verdict was announced in the absence of the state prosecutor - for some reason the trial began earlier than planned. In addition, prosecutor Irina Priede, who constantly spoke at the trial and demanded a sentence of one and a half years in prison for Vladimir Linderman, fell ill. Now the state prosecution is going to appeal the verdict. Abel’s lawyer Elena Kvyatkovskaya, in turn, noted that the trial was fair and free from political sympathies. Vladimir Linderman said that he intends to stay in Latvia and get involved in politics.