Moscow, Nov. 6, (dpa/GNA) – Russian police have raided the offices of an anti-corruption organization founded by dissident Alexei Navalny, according to images published on his Twitter account on Thursday.
Navalny, who is currently recovering in Berlin after being near-fatally poisoned with a chemical weapon, posted images of officials wearing balaclavas in the offices of the Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK).
“I was completely right when I said that the only legal consequence of my poisoning would be a new wave of pressure on the FBK,” Navalny wrote.
The exact reason for the raid was not immediately clear. Authorities only said that criminal proceedings had been initiated against FBK director Ivan Zhdanov because he had ignored a court verdict, state news agency Tass reported.
According to Navalny’s team, police also blocked the entrance of a broadcasting studio where the opposition politician usually records his weekly internet broadcast, which has generated millions of views on Youtube.
Opposition politician Lyubov Sobol was denied access to the studio and cameras were shut off and equipment confiscated, the team said.
The FKB reports on corruption cases involving prominent Russian politicians and has recently been the target of several raids.
Navalny, a fierce critic of President Vladimir Putin and prominent anti-corruption campaigner, fell ill on a domestic flight in Siberia on August 20. He was released from the German hospital where he was treated last month.
In October, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) confirmed tests that the Soviet-developed nerve agent Novichok – a banned warfare agent – was used in the attack.
Navalny says he believes Putin ordered the crime, while Moscow has denied any involvement and questioned whether Navalny was poisoned at all.
GNA