RT.com
25 Nov 2021, 01:42 GMT+10
The former head of the St. Petersburg headquarters of opposition figure Alexey Navalny has departed Russia, citing fears for her safety after an associate was arrested earlier this month and now faces up to 10 years behind bars.
Announcing her decision to flee the country in a Telegram post on Tuesday, Irina Fatyanova said that she had prepared herself for a lengthy legal battle and possible jail time.
However, she added, the arrest of Liliya Chanyesheva, the former head of the Navalny HQ in Ufa, a city more than 1,000km east of Moscow, made her pack her bags and move abroad.
Fatyanova said that it has been almost a week since she left the country after making the quick decision to gather her belongings, buy a ticket and go.
Chanysheva became the first member of Navalny's network to be arrested on charges of setting up and running an 'extremist' organization, after a Moscow City Court handed Navalny's structures and campaign groups the designation in June, effectively banning them from working in the country. If Chanysheva is found guilty, she could spend anywhere from six to 10 years in jail.
Navalny was detained at passport control in Moscow earlier this year while returning to Russia for the first time since falling ill on a flight from Tomsk to the capital in August, 2020. After making an emergency landing in the Siberian city of Omsk, he was flown to Germany days later following requests from his family.
Navalny and his German doctors say he was poisoned with the nerve agent Novichok, and the activist claims the incident was a state-sponsored assassination attempt. Medical professionals who treated him in Omsk have insisted that there were no toxic substances detected in the samples taken, and officials say Berlin has refused to share evidence.
Navalny is currently serving a two-year and eight-month jail term for violating the conditions of a suspended sentence handed down to him in 2014 for fraud. The opposition politician was found guilty of embezzling $400,000 from two companies.
(RT.com)
Get a daily dose of Germany Sun news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Germany Sun.
More InformationSAN FRANCISCO, California: Under pressure from European regulators, Apple has revamped its App Store policies in the EU, introducing...
A new law in Denmark subjects 18-year-old females to the draft starting July 1 Women in Denmark are now subject to conscription,...
The inflation is driven by the price of services, which recorded a yearly inflation rate of 3.3 percent in June, up from 3.2 percent...
The Russian Foreign Ministry has condemned the prosecution in Moldova of regional head Yevgenia Gutsul as politically motivated repression...
Why Trump managed to settle the conflict in the Middle East but not in Eastern Europe US President Donald Trump secured his image...
A video posted on Facebook by Kostadin Kostadinov, leader of the Revival party, claims that once Bulgaria joins the eurozone on January...
VILNIUS, Lithuania – A growing body of research suggests that selectively restricting a single nutrient in our diet could have profound...
DUBLIN, Ireland: Former government minister Mary Hanafin has confirmed she will seek the Fianna Fáil nomination to contest Ireland's...
FRANKFURT, Germany: Germany has become the latest country to challenge Chinese AI firm DeepSeek over its data practices, as pressure...
DUBLIN, Ireland: Ireland's EU Commissioner Michael McGrath has defended Commission Vice President Kaja Kallas over her recent comments...
SAN FRANCISCO, California: Under pressure from European regulators, Apple has revamped its App Store policies in the EU, introducing...
BONN, Germany: Despite widespread belt-tightening across the United Nations, nearly 200 countries agreed this week to increase the...