[Today, opposition leader Alexey Navalny made his closing statement at his trial for “embezzlement.” The defense was not allowed to call any witnesses and comments made before the trial began by the presiding judge and officials from the Investigative Committee characterized his guilt as a foregone conclusion. Nevertheless, Navalny remained defiant in the face of […]
[On July 3, Yevgeny Urlashov, the opposition-backed mayor of Yaroslavl, was arrested on charges of soliciting a bribe. Anti-Kremlin activists have called his arrest politically motivated and have gathered on Aleksandr Nevsky Square in Yaroslavl in defense of the mayor. All of Urlashov’s subordinates detained have turned on him and confessed their guilt. MVD Spokesman Vladimir Markin […]
All 12 suspects in the case of mass disturbances on Moscow’s Bolotnaya Square on 6 May 2012 have refused to plead guilty in court, a correspondent of the Russian Agency for Legal and Judicial Information (RASPI) reports. The session of the Zamoskovoretsky Court in the capital was open to the public at the Moscow City […]
[Investigative agencies have filed charges in the final form against Leonid Razvozzhayev, aide to opposition politician and Duma Deputy Ilya Ponomarev. Razvozzhayev, who claims to have been kidnapped by FSB officers and brought back to Russia after seeking political asylum in Ukraine, is charged with organizing and participating in mass disorders and with the unlawful […]
[Lenta has posted this update on Alexey Navalny’s trial for embezzlement, noting that the oppositional leader has been denied the right to call witnesses in his defense. — Ed.] Judge Sergei Blinov refused to summon any of the witnesses, declared by the defense under the “Kirovles” Case. He ruled that in the motion to summon […]
Because he was unable to rid himself of his foreign assets in time, Mikhail Prokhorov, leader of the Civic Platform party has declined to take part in the mayoral elections in Moscow this year. As a result, the main candidate from the opposition is now Sergei Mitrokhin, chairman of the Yabloko party, who told Izvestia […]
[On June 12, the national “Day of Russia,” Russia’s opposition organized their “March Against Butchers,” with an estimated turnout of between 6,000-30,000. This article describes the events of the day—Ed.] According to the Interior Ministry Main Department of the City of Moscow, no serious violations of public order were registered during the march of June […]
Mikhail Prokhorov, leader of the Civic Platform, announced today that he will not run in the elections for mayor of Moscow, and no one from his party will take part in them. “We will not take part in the extension of the acting government’s license. We will act according to the rule ‘the mayor is […]
[An interview with opposition leader Alexei Navalny, on his plans to run for the Mayor of Moscow and the obstacles he expects to encounter—Ed.] Are you going to run for mayor? Yes, I am. How? There are two options: nomination by yourself or by a party. The first requires collecting signatures – more than 70,000, […]
Gary Kasparov, leader of the United Civic Front, has decided to refrain from trips to Russia. At a press conference in Geneva, the chess grand-master announced that he is afraid of criminal prosecution in his homeland in connection with the investigation of cases against the opposition. “I went there back and forth right up until […]
