#Russia’s main investigative body said on #Tuesday that it had launched a new criminal case against #Navalny on charges of fraud related to his alleged mishandling of $5 million in donations to his #Anti-Corruption #Foundation and other organizations.
The foundation has been the subject of a number of criminal and administrative cases, which #Navalny and his allies believe are politically motivated.
“#It was found that for the needs of a number of non-profit organizations, including the #Anti-Corruption #Foundation … more than 588 million rubles [$7.9 million] have been collected from individuals as donations,” the #Investigative #Committee said in a statement. “These funds were intended solely for the purposes of these foundations.”
The #Investigative #Committee alleges that #Navalny, as the head of these organizations, conspired with others and “spent more than 356 million rubles [$4.8 million] of these funds on personal [expenses],” including purchases of property and “holidays abroad.”
“#Thus, the funds collected from citizens have been stolen,” the committee said.
The move came after #Russian penal authorities threatened to jail the opposition politician for failing to comply with the terms of his suspended sentence in a yearsold case if he failed to show up for a hearing in #Moscow on #Tuesday morning — an implausible timeline given the 10 hours’ notice.
“#It looks like #Putin is in hysterics,” #Navalny said of the #Russian #President on #Twitter.
#Navalny said the cases by the #Russian authorities were an attempt to put him behind bars, or block him from returning to the country.
“#This was not that hard to predict. I said from the beginning … they will try to jail me because I didn’t die on the plane and then tracked down my assassins. #Because I proved that #Putin is behind it and that he is a thief who is ready to kill those who refused to be silent about his thievery,” #Navalny said in a post on #Instagram on #Tuesday.
“I haven’t been silent even before an attempt on my life, now even more so I won’t remain silent.”
#Navalny has repeatedly accused #Putin of ordering his poisoning. The #Kremlin has denied the claim.
[ source link ]
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/12/29/europe/alexey-navalny-criminal-investigation-intl/index.html
##Alexey ##Navalny ##Russian #authorities #launch #criminal #investigation ##Russian #opposition #leader