The court arrested Vyacheslav Maltsev in absentia. He was put on the international wanted list

The Moscow Meshchansky Court arrested in absentia the leader of the Artpodgotovka movement, Vyacheslav Maltsev, who is accused of calling for extremist activities. RIA Novosti writes about this with reference to court press secretary Yulia Bocharova.

She said that the arrest period is two months from the moment Maltsev is handed over to Russian law enforcement agencies. Maltsev, who left Russia due to a criminal case on the creation of an extremist community, has been put on the international wanted list. Now the investigation will be able to ask for his extradition.

On July 14 , a criminal case was opened against Maltsev for calls for extremist activity (Part 1 of Article 280 of the Criminal Code) in connection with his speech at the rally “For Russia against arbitrariness and repression” on May 6, 2017 on Sakharov Avenue in Moscow.

In his speech, he stated that Bolotnaya Square had no chance because it was a peaceful protest:

Because these were people who wanted to get something legally. Here you can only get it in another way. And something completely different is issued allegedly by law. In fact, due to lawlessness. The state has the right to legally use violence. But this state always uses violence illegally. Today we all came out here. But there are not very many of us. But do you know why? Because this is a permitted rally. This is a permitted event. And those people who came out 26, they don’t want to be allowed. They are the power here. The only source of power is the people. They don’t want to be behind bars like cattle. They don't want to and won't.

The resolution states that his statements had “criminal intent aimed at inducing rally participants to an armed seizure of power in the Russian Federation.”

On August 15, Maltsev was charged in absentia. In October, the FSB filed a petition with the court to arrest the politician in absentia.