The Moscow City Court upheld the arrest in absentia of Leonid Volkov

The Moscow City Court upheld a two-month arrest in absentia for the head of Navalny’s network of headquarters, Leonid Volkov, as part of the case of involving minors in committing actions that pose a danger to their lives (clauses “a”, “c”, part 2 of article 151.2 of the Criminal Code). This was reported by MBKh Media.

Volkov is abroad. On February 10, he was put on the interstate wanted list and arrested in absentia for two months. The arrest will be counted from the moment the politician is detained in Russia or is extradited.

On the eve of the all-Russian action on January 23 in support of Navalny, the Main Directorate of the Investigative Committee opened a criminal case on the involvement of minors in committing life-threatening actions. According to the department, Navalny’s supporters on social networks called on teenagers to participate in unauthorized rallies in Moscow and other cities. Taking into account the “complex epidemiological situation,” this “creates a real threat of disease,” investigators considered.

On January 22, the Ministry of Internal Affairs stated that the head of Navalny’s network of headquarters, Leonid Volkov, and the head of the Anti-Corruption Foundation founded by Navalny, Ivan Zhdanov, gave instructions to “involve as much as possible young people, including minors, at rallies.” On January 28, it became known that Leonid Volkov became the first defendant in a criminal case about agitation among minors.

On January 21, a video “How can we get Navalny out of prison?” was released on Volkov’s YouTube channel, in which he spoke about Saturday’s action: “If you are in Russia, on January 23, demand the release of Alexei Navalny in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kazan and Yekaterinburg, Vladivostok, Ulan-Ude, Krasnodar and Murmansk, Kaliningrad and Omsk, in any city in the country.”

• In connection with the rallies in support of Alexei Navalny, which took place from January 23 to February 2, at least 90 criminal cases were opened across the country. Protest participants were accused of using violence against security forces (Article 318 of the Criminal Code), violating sanitary and epidemiological rules (Part 1 of Article 236 of the Criminal Code), involving minors in illegal activities (Part 2 of Article 151.2 of the Criminal Code), blocking roads (Article 267 of the Criminal Code) and under other articles.