MOSCOW -- A court in Moscow has issued additional arrest warrants for several close associates of jailed opposition politician Aleksei Navalny, this time on charges of creating an extremist group.
The Basmanny district court said on May 19 that it had ruled in recent days during separate hearings that the former director of Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK), Ivan Zhdanov, former FBK lawyers Lyubov Sobol and Vyacheslav Gimadi, and the former coordinator of Navalny's regional network, Leonid Volkov, should be arrested and placed in pretrial detention for at least two months.
Russia's Criminal Code envisages a penalty of up to 12 years in prison for persons found guilty of such charges.
There were already arrest warrants issued for the four activists, who are currently living outside of Russia, on different charges that they and their supporters have also called politically motivated.
Separately on May 19, police in the largest city in Siberia, Novosibirsk, searched the homes of two former members of Navalny's team, Yelena Noskovets, who left Russia last year, and Polina Golobkova. Police said the searches were linked to "a case launched into the activities of an extremist group."
Police in Novosibirsk also searched the homes of two local independent lawmakers, Anton Kartavin and Sergei Boiko, who used to be close to Navalny's groups. Boiko said on Telegram that he was currently outside of Russia.
The day before, police in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk broke into and searched the apartment of another former associate of Navalny, Natalya Peterimova, who fled Russia earlier fearing for her safety.
FBK and other groups associated with Navalny, as well as his political movement, were declared "extremist organizations" by Russian authorities in June 2021 and disbanded.
Several of the Kremlin critic's associates were subsequently charged with establishing an extremist group. Many of them have fled the country amid pressure from the Russian authorities.
