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Russian authorities announced Tuesday that they would open an investigation into an alleged “large-scale fraud” against Russian opponent Alexei Navalny, who is recovering abroad from an alleged nerve agent poisoning.
The recognized opponent of Vladimir Putin, Russian president, has already reacted to this announcement, having denounced a “crisis of hysteria” on the part of the Kremlin (Russian Presidency).
In a statement, Russia’s Investigative Committee reported that Navalny is suspected of having used 356 million rubles (about 3.9 million euros) for personal expenses that were collected as donations by “various” non-profit organizations.
The Russian authorities refer in particular to donations made to the Anti-Corruption Fund, an organization founded by the opponent, and to five other human rights organizations, of which Navalny is a “de facto director”.
The Commission of Inquiry maintains that Alexei Navalny used this money “for the acquisition of personal and material goods, as well as for the payment of expenses (including vacations abroad) “.
Russian law provides up to 10 years in prison for this crime.
“It seems that (Vladimir) Putin is going through a crisis of hysteria”, reacted Alexei Navalny through the social network Twitter.
Navalny asks his followers to ignore this investigation
In the same message, the Russian opponent asked his followers to ignore and even “enjoy” this new investigation and to continue making donations to the organizations involved in the process.
He also argued that this new case is linked to his alleged poisoning in Siberia last August.
Navalny felt ill and passed out on August 20 during a domestic flight in Russia and was transported in a coma two days later to Germany for treatment. Laboratories in Germany, France and Sweden, as well as the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, showed that he was exposed to a nerve agent, such as Novichok, from the Soviet era.
The Russian authorities have rejected all charges of involvement in the poisoning.
“They are trying to send me to prison because I did not die and then I looked for my killers,” Navalny said today.
Last week, the Russian opposition released the content of a telephone conversation he had with an alleged agent of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB).
During the conversation, the alleged agent, who thought he was talking to an intelligence officer, admitted that the Russian special services had poisoned Navalny, but that the mission had gone wrong.
