A protest participant reported a call from FSB officers

A resident of St. Petersburg, Anastasia Fedotova (Taube), reported that FSB officers were interested in her.

OVD-InfoThe man who called the girl on March 14 did not introduce himself, but stated that he was from the FSB department and asked Fedotova to come on the same day for an “explanation on one case.” To all the girl’s clarifying questions, the man answered: “You’ll find out on the spot.” When Fedotova replied that she could not come, the man persistently asked when and what time she could do it. In addition, he wondered if she was on her way home from school at that moment. The girl suspects that her movements could be tracked.

Fedotova noted that she had repeatedly taken part in opposition rallies and protests, but always tried to stay in the shadows.

According to the girl, the call may also be connected with her boyfriend, Open Russia activist Clinton Baranov. Before November 5, 2017, according to her, they were going to initiate a criminal case against him. Now he is trying to “keep a low profile,” so Fedotova assumes that the FSB officers wanted to contact him through her.

Baranov describes the events of October 2017 on his social network VKontakte. He was detained on October 30 at the entrance of his own house. According to him, he was handcuffed and put in a car, after which one of the police officers, using obscene language, promised the activist Art. 228 of the Criminal Code (drug possession).

page During the search, 14 packages were found on Baranov. The activist stated that he saw them for the first time and did not know their contents. The packages were allegedly sent for examination.

Then employees of the Center for Combating Extremism asked Baranov about various actions and people, hinting at a possible improvement in the case if they cooperate. The activist refused to talk to them without a lawyer.

The next day, when giving evidence again, Baranov learned that he had been reclassified from an accused to a witness. After this, the activist was released. The seized phone was returned, in his words, “with built-in spyware.”