The Kremlin has been preparing for the most comprehensive repression of Alexei Navalny’s followers since his rise as opposition leader in 2011, and is threatening to liquidate his entire political organization while fighting for his life in a Russian prison.
Using secret evidence, a Moscow court next week will declare Navalny’s anti-corruption establishment and its political political headquarters as extremist organizations, previously applied to al-Qaeda and Jehovah’s Witnesses, exposing its staff, supporters and financiers to severe fines. and even long prison sentences.
Navalny allies, who are preparing for a final protest on Wednesday to demand the freedom of the sick dissident, say they are preparing for the worst.
Prior to the protest action and the extremism ruling, some of its regional headquarters staff went to the ground, while others began deleting data on Russian social networks that regularly share information with the authorities. But several contacted by the Guardian said they would not abandon their political opposition to Vladimir Putin, no matter what happens next.
“There is no doubt that the Anti-Corruption Foundation will be recognized as an extremist organization along with the local headquarters, and yes, it will be used as another attempt to liquidate our entire structure,” Leonid Volkov said. one of Navalny’s top executives, said. assistants and an organizer of the upcoming demonstrations.
Navalny, who has been on a hunger strike for almost three weeks, is believed to be dangerously ill in a Russian prison and his doctors said he was at risk of kidney failure or a heart attack. On Tuesday, he released a statement via a lawyer in which he thanked his supporters and said that he ‘will not be found. [rid of] so easy. ”
But it is clear that an era in Russian opposition politics is coming to an end, with Navalny’s organization being forced underground under the blind pretext that it poses a threat to Russia’s state security.
“We are going to find a way to continue our work, but we will have to do it very carefully to avoid criminal charges against our supporters and employees,” Volkov said. “If we leave it as it is, they will definitely file a mass criminal case against all the staff members of the regional headquarters.”
Over the past decade, Navalny has built an extensive organization that includes an apostate news office, an investigation team that revealed the Kremlin elite’s involvement in corrupt schemes, an election research center run by the ruling party United Russia, and more than 35 local headquarters.
Many of the workers say they are likely to be targeted next because the Kremlin is ready to eradicate the opposition across the country.
“Every member of the team faces up to ten years in prison, but we do not have the right to know why,” his Moscow headquarters wrote in a message, citing reports that government evidence against the Navalny organization would be kept secret. Headquarters coordinator Oleg Stepanov has been under house arrest since January.
In Penza, a small, conservative city about 320 kilometers southeast of Moscow, pro-Navalny coordinator Anton Strunin is facing administrative charges and fines for his support of the opposition leader. The police claimed last week that he must pay the equivalent of more than £ 8,000 for a pro-Navalny protest in January. That’s a pretty big amount here, ‘he said.
When authorities threatened to label Navalny supporters as extremists, he said he was “hoping for the best”, adding that any attempt to punish people dissatisfied with the government was likely to backfire.
“I do not know what is going to happen to our organization, but you can not get rid of the people,” Strunin said. ‘Suppose we declare that they are extremists. We’re not going. And there are many people who are unhappy … we are jailed, fined, people are still going to be unhappy. ‘
The loss of Navalny in prison inflicted a severe blow on the organization and left much of the organizing force abroad. Among those fleeing abroad are Volkov, head of the Anti-Corruption Foundation, Ivan Zhdanov, and Vladimir Milov, a senior ally of Navalny, who also said he left the country this week to be arrested. take before the protests. There is a definite lack of organizing power on the ground before the crucial coming days.
“We try to keep working so that nothing changes with or without him,” Strunin said of Navalny. “It’s a personal thing for me. I’m not only his supporter, I was also interested in politics because of Alexei Navalny … he aroused my interest in politics and really changed my life. ”
Other organizations that have been declared extremist include the Jehovah’s Witnesses, who have experienced raids, imprisonment, and other heavy-handed political attacks, despite being an extremely political and violent group.
Navalny supporters see little in common with the religious group, but say a repression of them could use similar tactics.
Another staff member from a regional headquarters, who asked not to be named, said she would support Navalny if the court declared his organization extremist, but conceded that jail time was a possibility. ‘I think everyone who supports him now knows it’s possible; there is no screen anymore, we know it’s a police state. ”
Volkov, who appealed on Wednesday because the situation with Navalny’s health was urgent, said the expansion of the organization to the regions was “one of the most painful and annoying for Putin.”
“I hope the protest can change things,” he said. “I hope it will open a new page in Russia.”