Publicist and sociologist Igor Eidman was arrested in absentia

On May 29, the Sovetsky District Court of Nizhny Novgorod arrested Igor Eidman in absentia, who is accused of military “fakes” (clause “e” of Part 2 of Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code), evasion of duties as a “foreign agent” (Part 2 of Article 330.1 of the Criminal Code) and participation in a terrorist organization (Part 2 of Article 205.5 of the Criminal Code).

The Investigative Committee accuses Eidman of participating in a terrorist organization due to the repost of a collection of money for drones for the Freedom of Russia legion in his Telegram channel, as well as due to an interview with the Ukrainian channel “Now” in March 2024, in which he spoke about the need to support the armed formations of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, which the Russians are joining. In this regard, he is accused of participating in the “Freedom of Russia” legion, the Russian Volunteer Corps and the Siberian Battalion.

Eidman was charged with the article about military “fakes” due to the mention in his post of the crimes of the Russian military in Bucha, and the “foreign agency” article - due to the lack of labeling in his posts and failure to submit reports to the Ministry of Justice.

Eidman has also been wanted since last fall in the case of a terrorist community (Article 205.4 of the Criminal Code), which was initiated due to the activities of the Free Russia Forum.

• The publicist left Russia in 2011. In 2021, the Prosecutor General’s Office declared the Forum of Russian-Speaking Europeans, headed by Eidman, “undesirable.” And two years later, the publicist himself was added to the register of “foreign agents.” He also runs the German-Russian Human Rights Dialogue Society, which operates with the support of the German Foreign Ministry.