Two collaborators of the imprisoned Russian opponent Alexeï Navalny were arrested Tuesday, December 28, including an elected official accused of extremism, a crime punishable by 12 years in prison, their movement announced.
"
A great misfortune has happened
", wrote on Twitter Leonid Volkov, exiled opponent and right-hand man of Alexeï Navalny, announcing the arrest of Ksenia Fadeeva, municipal deputy of Tomsk, and Zakhar Sarapoulov, former head of the organization by Alexey Navalny in Irkutsk.
Read also The opponent Navalny still pugnacious despite the prison
Ksenia Fadeeva was elected in September 2020 to the parliament of Tomsk, a city in Siberia where Alexeï Navalny was poisoned in August of the same year, during the electoral campaign. Transferred to Germany for treatment, the opponent, who accuses the Kremlin of his poisoning with a nerve substance, was arrested on his return to Russia in early 2021 and has been in prison since. His entire movement was banned for "
extremism
" in June.
According to Ivan Jdanov, another close friend of Alexeï Navalny who has chosen exile, Ksenia Fadeeva is personally accused of the crime of "
extremism
" and "
abuse of power
".
She would risk up to 12 years in prison in the event of a trial.
The year 2021 was marked by a growing crackdown on criticism of the regime in Russia, the latest example of which was the court's decision on Tuesday to dissolve the iconic NGO Memorial, slayer of state crimes and keeper of the memory of the victims. of the Gulag.
