Russia issues arrest warrant for former head of Navalny’s regional office Alexey Vorsin

The Russian police have issued an arrest warrant for former coordinator of the Khabarovsk regional office of Alexey Navalny’s campaign Alexey Vorsin. The APB was published on the interior ministry’s database.

“Perhaps my photo will soon be on all Khabarovsk public transport stops, but not because of the upcoming elections. They issued an arrest warrant for me,” the activist wrote.

He added that he is wanted for “organising an extremist community”. Vorsin said that he had temporarily left Russia.

In September 2021, Vorsin got a three-year suspended sentence under the so-called “Dadin’s article” of the Russian Criminal Code, which introduces a penalty of up to 5 years in prison for repeated violations of public assembly rules. The prosecution requested two years in prison. The activist said that on 19 March, police barged into his house and beat him up demanding that he gave them his phone password. Vorsin was detained for repeated violations of public assembly rules over four administrative protocols filed by the police after he attended rallies in support of former Khabarovsk governor Sergey Furgal and politician Alexey Navalny.

Earlier, the Russian Interior Ministry issued an arrest warrant for Olga Shkolina, a former activist of Navalny’s regional office in Arkhangelsk.