15 October 2019, 15:44
Law enforcers begin searching activists' houses in Rostov-on-Don and Krasnodar
Searches in a case against the Anti-Corruption Foundation (ACF) have been started in 30 regions of Russia, including at homes of an employee of the oppositionist Alexei Navalny's office in Rostov-on-Don and Yana Antonova, the former coordinator of the Krasnodar branch of the Open Russia (recognized in Russia as undesirable organization).
The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Yana Antonova is accused of participating in an undesirable organization. On August 29, the court began to consider the Yana Antonova's case, which became the first precedent in the judicial practice of Russia, an advocate said. Yana Antonova pleaded not guilty.
The list of "undesirable organizations" compiled by the Russian Ministry of Justice (MoJ) includes two British organizations with similar names: Open Russia Civic Movement, Open Russia (Open Russia public network movement), and OR (Otkrytaya Rossia) (Open Russia) (from November 8, 2018: Human Rights Project Management). At the Open Russia's conference in March, a decision was made to wind up the movement in Russia.
The search at the Yana Antonova's house is carried out within the case against the Anti-Corruption Foundation, reports the "OVD-Info" with reference to Alexei Pryanishnikov, the coordinator of the "Postcard Human Rights Advocacy".
Apart from Krasnodar, the searches in the ACF's case also take place in 14 cities of Russia, including in Rostov-on-Don at a house of Vladislav Kulchitsky, an employee of the local Alexei Navalny's office, the "OVD-Info" reports.
Earlier, on September 12, the searches at homes of employees of the Alexei Navalny's AFC and local Alexei Navalny's offices were carried out in 39 cities of the country, including Krasnodar, Rostov-on-Don, and Stavropol. The searches were related to the investigation into the case on money laundering against the AFC.
This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on October 15, 2019 at 10:10 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.
