Three lawyers representing Russian dissident and critic Alexei Navalny have been detained Friday following raids of their residences. The three males are accused of participation in an extremist group allegedly led by Navalny.
Vadim Kobzev, Igor Segunin and Alexei Lipster have represented Navalny in his many authorized struggles, with Kobzev appearing for him since 2010. Following searches of their properties and subsequent arrests, the lads have been dropped at Basmanny Courtroom in Moscow. All three later appeared in courtroom. In line with information released by Navalny’s ally Ivan Zhdanov, the lads have been accused of utilizing their standing as legal professionals to entry the “correctional establishment” Navalny was held in, which “ensured the common switch of data between the leaders [and] individuals [of the] extremist group.” Navalny was labeled because the “chief and supervisor” in “planning, getting ready, creating situations and committing extremist crimes.”
Kira Yarmysh, Navalny’s spokesperson, condemned the arrests in a press release launched through X (previously Twitter). Yarmysh labeled the occasions “monstrous,” commenting:
The arrest of Navalny’s legal professionals is actually a ban on offering authorized help to Alexei himself and an act of intimidation of all the authorized group. Beforehand, this was unthinkable even by the requirements of Putin’s state, however immediately there’s even much less of the “state” and “regulation” left in Russia.
Alexei Navalny has been in custody in Russia since January 2021. Following his preliminary detention, Navalny has been convicted of many crimes, most lately receiving a nineteen-year sentence on extremism charges in August 2023. Whereas he tried to attraction this choice, the Moscow Metropolis Courtroom rejected the attraction on September 27, 2023. Following this, he is because of be transferred to a particular safety penal colony.
Whereas detained, Navalny’s legal professionals can not signify him. All three will stay in detention pending investigation and trial.
