Co -chairman of the Voice Melkonian was detained after interrogation in the UK

The co -chair of the Voice movement Grigory Melkonants on Thursday was detained and taken to the Investigative Committee for interrogation as a suspect. This was announced by the telegram channel "Voices" with reference to lawyer Mikhail Biryukov. In the evening, it became known that after the interrogation, Melchonyants was not released, he was sent to a temporary detention center. As expected, on Friday the court will choose a measure of restraint in a criminal case, - reports Rain.

Earlier on Thursday, Russian State Agencies reported that a criminal case was opened against the co -chair of the movement in defense of the Voice of the Voice of the Melkonian on the organization of the work of an “unwanted” NGO. He and his associates in a number of regions of Russia were searches.

The co -chair of the Voting Stanislav Andreichuk said that the basis for the search was an initiated criminal case on the activities of an “unwanted organization”, namely the “European network of organizations to observe Enemo. “However, the All -Russian social movement in defense of voter rights“ Voice ”is not related to this organization. At one time, Enemo included the Voice association - but now it no longer exists,” says Andreichuk.

According to the article on cooperation with an unwanted organization, he faces up to six years in prison, RBC said .

According to the source of RIA Novosti, the employees of law enforcement agencies came with searches for Grigory Melkonian himself, as well as to 14 regional coordinators and activists of Voice in eight regions, including Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kazan, Veliky Novgorod, Tambov.

In Moscow, the searches of the Voice coordinator and the editor -in -chief of the time "Time" Vladimir Egorov were held. The search also took place with the human rights activist Vladimir Zhilkin. In the telegram channel of Zhilkin, it is reported that after investigative actions he was taken to the emergency room.

On Thursday evening, it became known that the Dorogomilovsky court of Moscow sent Egorov under administrative arrest for 15 days in the case of disobedience to the police. It is claimed that he showed disobedience during a search.

Enemo is a network of leading non -profit, non -partisan and non -governmental organizations from 18 countries of Central and Eastern Europe, as well as Central Asia. It was founded in September 2001.

• "Voice" is engaged in independent supervision of elections in Russia. The movement was formed in 2013 after the Voice Association existing since 2000 was included in the register of NKO- "Foreign Agents". The Voice of the Foreign Agent has been in the Voice movement since August 2021.
• In October last year, Grigory Melkonian and other leaders of the Voice, as well as regional activists, took searches. The human rights activist, in an interview with RBC, noted that investigative actions were carried out "on a completely far-fetched excuse, some criminal case in Ivanovo on an activist was instituted." As specified in the search for the search, it was about the posts of the local activist Mikhail Gusev "The Diary of the Emigrant" in Telegram.
• The register of unwanted organizations appeared in Russian legislation in 2012. It includes legal entities whose work state bodies declare dangerous for Russia. The legislation provides for criminal liability for cooperation with such organizations. There are already about 100 in the registry.
• In 2023, the Russian prosecutor’s office regularly replenishes the list of unwanted organizations, including at the expense of independent media (Medusa, New Gazeta Europe, Rain TV channel) and opposition structures opposing the war in Ukraine and President Vladimir Putin.