The launch of this arrest warrant comes the day after the addition of Alexeï Navalny to the list of “terrorists and extremists”. Russia issued an arrest warrant on Wednesday, January 26, targeting Oleg Navalny, the brother of opponent Alexeï Navalny, accused of having violated the conditions of a suspended sentence by the prison administration, which is demanding his imprisonment. .
The name of Oleg Navalny, 38, now appears on the Russian Interior Ministry’s wanted list for criminal offences.
Oleg Navalny was sentenced in August to a one-year suspended prison sentence in a case of violation of health standards linked to the coronavirus pandemic, for having called on Russians to participate in demonstrations in favor of the release of his brother in January. .
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Oleg Navalny was not at home
His lawyer, Nikos Paraskevov, told the Interfax news agency that the arrest warrant had been issued because the police had not found Oleg Navalny at his home. He said he did not know if the latter had left the country, like most of the supporters and allies of his brother, a sworn enemy of the Kremlin imprisoned in a case of fraud, which he considers political.
On Monday, a Moscow court registered a request from the prison administration to convert Oleg Navalny’s suspended sentence to prison. She is due for review on February 18, according to the court’s website.
Oleg and Alexei Navalny were both convicted in 2014 in a fraud case, which their supporters denounce as politically motivated. Oleg spent three and a half years in prison before being released in 2018, while Alexey received a suspended sentence.
Returning to Russia in January 2021 after recovering from poisoning for which he holds the Kremlin responsible, Alexeï Navalny was immediately arrested and imprisoned.