Alexander Fedulov, Alexei Navalny’s lawyer, left Russia. Heannounced this on his page on Instagram.
Fedulov explained his departure from Russia by the “need for adjustments” in the further protection of the politician. “The situation is strange. The arrest of our colleagues who defended Navalny made significant adjustments to the work of the defenders who remained at large,” he wrote.
The lawyer was supposed to participate today, October 16, in a hearing on the FSIN’s lawsuit against Navalny, but did not appear in court. The man also did not answer calls.
On October 13, the Basmanny District Court of Moscow arrested Navalny's lawyers Vadim Kobzev, Alexei Liptser and Igor Sergunin. The defenders were charged with participation in an extremist community (Part 2 of Article 282.1 of the Criminal Code).
According to the security forces, they “using their status in providing legal assistance to gain access to a correctional institution, ensured regular transfer of information between leaders, participants of the extremist community and Navalny A.A., who thereby continued to carry out the functions of the leader and leader of the extremist community in planning, preparation, creation of conditions and commission of extremist crimes.”
- On June 9, 2021, the Moscow City Court recognized the Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK), the Foundation for the Protection of Citizens' Rights (FZPG) and the headquarters of Alexei Navalny as extremist organizations. An appeals court later upheld this decision. After this, supporters of the opposition politician began to leave Russia en masse.
- At the end of September 2021, the Investigative Committee announced that a case had been opened against Navalny and his associates, as well as other activists , regarding an extremist community (Article 282.1 of the Criminal Code). Later it became known that several other cases filed earlier against the politician and several key figures in his structures were added to this case. Currently, within the framework of one case, in addition to the article on the extremist community, there are also articles on the financing of extremist activities (Part 1 of Article 282.3 of the Criminal Code), on the legalization of funds acquired by other persons through criminal means (clause “b” of Part 4 Article 174 of the Criminal Code), on the creation of a non-profit organization that infringes on the personality and rights of citizens (Part 2 of Article 239 of the Criminal Code) and on the involvement of minors in dangerous activities (paragraphs “a”, “c” of Part 2 of Article 151.2 of the Criminal Code) ). In August 2023, Navalny was sentenced to 19 years in a special regime colony under articles on financing extremism (Part 2 of Article 282.3 of the Criminal Code), on the creation of an extremist community (Part 3 of Article 282.1 of the Criminal Code) and on calls for extremism (Part 2 of Art. 280 CC).
- As part of the case about an extremist community, in January, ex-employees of Navalny’s headquarters in Arkhangelsk, Yegor Butakov and Elizaveta Bychkova, were sentenced to a year of restriction of freedom. In June, the ex-coordinator of Navalny’s Ufa headquarters, Liliya Chanysheva, was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison, and in July, the ex-coordinator of Navalny’s headquarters in Barnaul, Vadim Ostanin, was sentenced to nine years in a general regime colony. In August, the former technical director of Navalny LIVE, Daniel Kholodny, was sentenced to eight years in a general regime colony. In October 2022, a volunteer of this headquarters, Olga Shkolina, was arrested in absentia - she left the country in the summer. In addition, in December of the same year, the former coordinator of Navalny’s Irkutsk headquarters, Zakhar Sarapulov, was sentenced to a year of suspended imprisonment. Ex-coordinator of the Tomsk headquarters Ksenia Fadeeva is prohibited from certain actions .