New witness in the Bolotnaya case: “I’m not going to go anywhere”

Vsevolod Chagaev, a member of the opposition Solidarity movement and a member of the December 5 Party, was summoned to the Investigative Committee as a witness in the Bolotnaya case . The 18-year-old activist participated in the preparation of rallies and was a volunteer in Krymsk. According to Chagaev, in early December 2012, an FSB officer, known in opposition circles as Lesha Ulybka, called him for a personal meeting. Chagaev recorded his conversation with Lesha Ulybka on a tape recorder, and the next day he posted it on LiveJournal . Judging by the audio recording, the operative offered Chagaev “cooperation.”

After this, Chagaev began to be threatened with the army and criminal prosecution in the Bolotnaya case. Then the young oppositionist decided to go abroad, but in January 2013 he unexpectedly returned to Russia. Chagaev took part in the “March against scoundrels” on January 13, and already on January 16, his parents’ apartment was searched. On January 22, Chagaev was summoned to the Investigative Committee for interrogation, which lasted more than 3 hours. “I see from the window of the investigator’s office how the Russian flag flutters very beautifully on the main building of the Investigative Committee; I have already answered 40 questions,” he wrote during the interrogation on his microblog on Twitter . PublicPost spoke with the activist about the reasons for his return to Russia and his concerns regarding the Bolotnaya case.

— How did everything go in SK?

There was a three-hour interrogation, they asked me a certain number of questions, announced a non-disclosure agreement, and summoned me for questioning a week later, on January 30. I am a witness in the Bolotnaya case. Not yet. I hope that I will remain one in the future.

— Seva, you left Russia, and then unexpectedly returned...

I have always emphasized that this is a temporary measure. I was really out of the country for about a month, and then I returned, and two weeks after returning I was summoned to the Investigative Committee.

— Why did you decide to return to Russia?

I said that at most I can leave for six months. The threats were serious. Now I was called to the Investigative Committee, and I understand that I had something to fear. Without pathos and everything else, it was hard for me to be abroad. It's true. I, of course, understood that this would be the case in Moscow.

“Maybe we shouldn’t have gone back?”

So the question is not worth it at all. I don't intend to leave in the future. I will go for interrogations and see what comes of all this. I try to look at all this optimistically. Over the past few days, about 40 people have informed me that I am about to be imprisoned. I no longer have any other options but to look at all this optimistically.