A court in Moscow arrested two of Navalny’s lawyers in absentia – Kommersant

Basmanny Court of Moscow in absentia arrested lawyers of oppositionist Alexei Navalny – Olga Mikhailova and Alexander Fedulov – in the case of participation in an extremist community (Part 2 of Article 282.1 of the Criminal Code). Both lawyers left Russia in October 2023.

“Accusing me of participating in Navalny’s extremist organization has nothing to do with the law. My criminal prosecution is exclusively about current politics,” wrote Olga Mikhailova on the social network Facebook (owned by Meta, recognized as extremist and banned in the Russian Federation).

Alexander Fedulov did not comment on his arrest. From publications on his Instagram (belongs to Meta, recognized as extremist and banned in the Russian Federation), it follows that the lawyer is in Greece.

On October 13, 2023, three other oppositionist lawyers were arrested – Alexey Liptser, Igor Sergunin and Vadim Kobzev. According to investigators, the lawyers used their status to gain access to the correctional facility where Alexei Navalny is serving his sentence and ensured the regular transfer of information between the “extremist community and the oppositionist.” After the arrest of the lawyers, it became known that Alexander Fedulov had left Russia. Olga Mikhailova was on vacation abroad at that moment and decided not to return to the country. Later, both lawyers were put on the international wanted list.

Read more about the reaction of the legal community to the arrests in the Kommersant article. “From defense to self-defense”.