The exact background is still unclear, but the arrest of three lawyers for Kremlin opponent Alexei Navalny in Russia has alarmed civil rights activists.
According to a media report, the judiciary in Moscow has taken three lawyers for opposition politician Alexei Navalny, who is in prison, into custody. Vadim Kobsev and Alexei Lipzer were taken into custody until December 13 on suspicion of forming an extremist organization, the Interfax news agency reported on Friday. A few hours earlier, Navalny’s former defense lawyer, Igor Sergunin, had been arrested on the same grounds. The authorities also conducted a house search of all three lawyers.
Kobsev was arrested in the town of Kovrov in the Vladimir region, a good 200 kilometers east of Moscow. He was actually supposed to defend Navalny, who was sentenced to 19 years in a prison camp and is internationally classified as a political prisoner, at a hearing that day.
There are still no official details about the allegations against the lawyers. The director of the anti-corruption fund founded by Navalny, Ivan Zhdanov, suspects that the indictment is intended to completely isolate Navalny. He also communicated with the outside world from his cell. The public prosecutor’s office apparently suspects that the defense attorneys have passed on his letters and are using this to construct involvement in his alleged extremist activities, said Zhdanov.
Civil rights activists warn that the increasing persecution of lawyers for opposition members and dissidents is further undermining the rule of law in Russia.
Source: Stern
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