Moscow, June 1, LETA – AP / MEDUZA. Andrei Pivovarov, the former executive director of the liquidated opposition organization “Open Russia”, was stopped at the St. Petersburg airport on Monday night and arrested, Russian media reported.
An aircraft of the Polish airline LOT, which was scheduled to depart for Warsaw and had already reached the runway, was ordered to postpone the departure. Police boarded the plane and detained Pivovarov.
In his Twitter account, Pivovarov said that he had been taken for questioning in the Committee of Inquiry and that criminal proceedings had been instituted against him.
Pivovarov also writes on Twitter that he plans to fly to Warsaw to “relax”.
According to information provided by St. Petersburg Pulkovo Airport, the plane departed for Warsaw with a delay of about an hour and a half.
“Open Russia” lawyer Anastasia Burakova told the Interfax news agency that a criminal case has been initiated against Pivovarov for carrying out the activities of an unwanted organization. It is punishable by two to six years in prison.
According to Burakov, Pivovarov was questioned as a witness, but, referring to Article 51 of the constitution, he did not testify against himself.
The lawyer also said that the criminal case was initiated by the Krasnodar District Branch of the Committee of Inquiry, and Pivovarov is expected to be taken to Krasnodar on Tuesday.
It is likely that the former executive director of “Open Russia” will be indicted in Krasnodar, where he will also be given a security measure, Burakova added.
The criminal case was initiated on May 29, two days after the liquidation of “Open Russia”.
The agency “Interfax” also reports that Pivovarov’s apartment in St. Petersburg was searched.
The founder and financier of Open Russia, a Kremlin critic in exile, has compared the detention of Mikhail Khodorkovsky to Pivovarov with the actions of Alexander Lukashenko’s regime, forcing a Ryanair plane to land in Minsk on May 23 to detain the Telegram Proman to establish Nexta.
“Is there still any doubt that Putin and Luke are boots from the same pair?” Khodorkovsky writes on his Telegram channel.
It has already been reported that the opposition organization Open Russia, funded by Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky, which was in exile on May 27, ceased operations and closed all branches in the regions. All members of the movement were expelled from the organization, but their membership was canceled to avoid possible persecution.
“Open Russia” was established in 2001 on the initiative of Khodorkovsky.
The decision to suspend the organization was made at a time when the Russian authorities are stepping up pressure on opponents of power in the run-up to the State Duma elections in September.
In 2017, “Open Russia” was recognized as an undesirable organization under a law against foreign organizations accused of political interference.
–
