News digest for August 26

Interrogations of Navalny’s ex-chief of staff, change of sentence for a defendant in the “New Greatness” case, and mass searches of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Moscow. Read the main news for August 26.

• In St. Petersburg, the former head of Navalny’s local headquarters, Irina Fatyanova, was searched. She was detained and interrogated in the case of blocking roads during protests, after which she was released as a witness. Ksenia Seredkina, the former head of Navalny’s headquarters in Rostov-on-Don, was also detained for questioning.
• In an appeal, the Moscow City Court changed the sentence of Pavel Rebrovsky, a defendant in the “New Greatness” case, recalculating the period of time under house arrest. Rebrovsky’s interests were defended by OVD-Info lawyer Maria Eismont.
• Voronezh resident Nadezhda Belova had her sentence upheld in the case of justifying terrorism. She was fined 400 thousand rubles for her comment about the explosion at the Arkhangelsk FSB Directorate.
• In Moscow, security forces conducted massive searches of Jehovah's Witnesses. Three believers Eduard Sviridov, Sean Pike and Alexander Rumyantsev were sent to a temporary detention center after interrogation.
• Samara human rights activist Alexander Kruglov was searched by FSB officers in the case of posts on VKontakte. Law enforcement officers decided not to explain which publications they were talking about.
• In Kemerovo, the case of participants in the “Don’t be inert” project Sergei Kamensky, Maxim Lavrentyev and Anatoly Sadovinwent to court. The bloggers are charged with inciting hatred or enmity; they are also charged with episodes of hooliganism and the use of violence against a government official. Lavrentyev, who has been held in custody for a year, was threatened with death by FSB officers.
• Navalny's supporter from Magnitogorsk Sergei Metlev left Russia. In July, he was put on the federal wanted list and arrested in absentia, charged with organizing the January rallies.
• In St. Petersburg, civil activists Ekaterina Grishnyakova and Varvara Borunova were detained because of the inscription on the asphalt “Freedom for political prisoners.” At the police station, the detainees were questioned by an employee of Center “E” about what views they held, whether they belonged to anarchists or the LGBT community.
• In the center of Moscow, police detained the miner’s mother, Vera Shikhova. She stood on the picket demanding that her son be given social benefits due to a mining injury in 2010. The interests of the picketer were defended by lawyer from OVD-Info Nikita Spivak.