The Kremlin is preparing for the biggest crackdown on Alexei Navalny’s supporters since his appearance as opposition leader in 2011, threatening to liquidate his entire political organization as he fights for his life in a Russian prison.
Using secret evidence, next week a Moscow court will declare the Navalny Anticorruption Foundation and its regional political headquarters as extremist organizations, labels previously applied to al-Qaeda and Jehovah’s Witnesses, exposing its staff, supporters and financiers to severe fines and even punishments. long prison terms.
Navalny’s allies, who are preparing for a last-minute protest on Wednesday to demand the release of the suffering dissident, say they are preparing for the worst.
Prior to the protest and the decision of extremism, some of its regional employees went to the ground, while others began deleting data from Russian social networks that regularly share information with the authorities. But several Guardian contacts have said they will not abandon their political opposition to Vladimir Putin, no matter what happens next.
“There is no doubt that the Anticorruption Foundation will be recognized as an extremist organization along with the regional headquarters and yes, it will be used as another attempt to liquidate our entire structure,” said Leonid Volkov, one of Navalny’s assistant leaders and an organizer. of future protests.
Navalny, who has been on hunger strike for almost three weeks, is said 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 issued a statement through a lawyer, thanking supporters and saying that “no [rid of] so easy.”
But it is clear that an era of Russian opposition policy is coming to an end, with Navalny’s organization being forced underground under its weak pretext, which poses a threat to the security of the Russian state.
“We will 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, then they will certainly initiate a mass criminal case against all the staff of the regional headquarters.”
Over the past decade, Navalny has built an extensive organization that includes a renegade newsroom, an investigation team that has revealed the Kremlin elite’s involvement in corrupt schemes, an election research center targeting the ruling Russia party, and more than 35 regional headquarters.
Many of the employees say they will probably continue to be targeted, as the Kremlin seems ready to root out opposition across the country.
“Every member of the team faces 10 years in prison, but we have no right to know why,” his Moscow headquarters wrote in a message, referring to reports that government evidence against Navalny was kept. secret. The coordinator of the headquarters, Oleg Stepanov, has been under house arrest since January.
In Penza, a small, conservative town about 320 miles southeast of Moscow, pro-Navalny coordinator Anton Strunin faced administrative fees and fines for supporting the opposition leader. Last week, police asked him to pay the equivalent of more than £ 8,000 for a pro-Navalny rally in January. That’s a pretty big amount here, “he said.
Now, with authorities threatening to label Navalny’s supporters as extremists, he said he “hopes for the best”, adding that any attempt to punish people who are dissatisfied with the government must be withdrawn.
“I don’t know what will happen to our organization, but you can’t get rid of people,” Strunin said. “Suppose you call them extremists. We’re not leaving. And there are a lot of people who are unhappy … shut us down, fine us, people will still be unhappy ”.
The loss of Navalny in prison dealt a severe blow to the organization, leaving much of the organizational power abroad. Volkov, the head of the Anticorruption Foundation, Ivan Zhdanov, and Vladimir Milov, a senior ally of Navalny, who said he left the country this week to avoid arrest before the protests, are among those fleeing abroad. There is a definite lack of organization of power on the ground before the next crucial days.
“We are trying to keep working so that nothing changes with him or without him,” Strunin said of Navalny. “It simply came to our notice then. I’m not just his supporter, I became interested in politics because of Alexei Navalny … he piqued my interest in politics and changed my life. ”
Other organizations that have declared themselves extremists include Jehovah’s Witnesses, which has experienced raids, prison sentences, and other heavy political attacks, despite being an apolitical and anti-violence group.
Navalny’s supporters do not see much in common with the religious group, but say a crackdown on them could use similar tactics.
Another staff member at a regional headquarters, who asked not to be named, said he would continue to support Navalny if the court declared his organization extremist, but acknowledged that prison sentences were a possibility. . “I think everyone who supported him now knows that this is possible; there is no screen anymore, we know it is a police state ”.
Volkov, who convened the rally on Wednesday because the situation with Navalny’s health was urgent, said expanding the organization to the regions was “one of the most painful and irritating for Putin.”
“I hope the protest can change things,” he said. “I hope it will open a new page in Russia.”