Leonid Razvozzhayev Indicted

June 25, 2013
Leonid Razvozzhayev/ Photo: ITAR-TASS

[Investigative agencies have filed charges in the final form against Leonid Razvozzhayev, aide to opposition politician and Duma Deputy Ilya Ponomarev. Razvozzhayev, who claims to have been kidnapped by FSB officers and brought back to Russia after seeking political asylum in Ukraine, is charged with organizing and participating in mass disorders and with the unlawful crossing of the border.—Ed.]

Leonid Razvozzhayev’s attorney, Dmitry Agranovsky, announced that his client has received the final version of the charges against him. According to Agranovsky, the opposition member was brought to the building of the Investigative Committee on Tekhnichesky Lane, where he was indicted for preparation of and participation in mass disorders (Art. 212, Part 1 and Part 2 of the Russian Criminal Code), and with unlawful crossing of the border (Art. 322, Part 1). He faces up to ten years of imprisonment under both articles.

Mr. Razvozzhayev, along with Sergei Udaltsov, the coordinator of Leftist Front, and opposition member Konstantin Lebedev were originally charged with an attempt of overthrow of government in Moscow, Kaliningrad and other cities around Russia. According to the investigation, Givi Targamadze, a Member of Parliament in Georgia, was supposed to finance the riots. Razvozzhayev at first signed a confession in this case, but then recanted it, stating that he had given testimony under pressure. He claimed that he was taken to Moscow from Kiev by unknown intelligence officers after he attempted to request political asylum [in Ukraine]. Later, Mr. Razvozzhayev was also charged with the robbery of 500 marmet hats in an incident 15 years ago.

The basis for the charges against Leonid Razvozzhayev of mass unrest with the aim of overthrowing the government was a film on the television channel NTV called “Anatomy of Protest-2” (which aired in September 2012), in which it was claimed that Sergei Udaltsov and his supporters planned a series of provocations in Russia, for which they received funds from abroad. In April, the first criminal case of an alleged organizer of mass disorders at Moscow City Court was that of Konstantin Lebedev. He agreed to cooperate with the investigation and pleaded guilty of preparing and organizing mass disorders on 6 May 2012 on Bolotnaya Square. Mr. Lebedev was sentenced to two-and-a-half years of standard-regimen labor colony. During the course of this investigation, the investigation received information that Georgian financier Givi Targamadze had given Russian activists at least $100,000 (which went to the organization of camps, the rental of safe houses and the purchase of a used Audi A6 and Opel Vectra).

The indictment of Leonid Razvozzhayev means the investigation has reached the final stage. Now the accused must familiarize himself with the materials of the case after which the case will go to the prosecutor’s office, and then the court. The investigators have planned the final indictment of Sergei Udaltsov, the next alleged organizer of disorders, later today. Mr. Udaltsov is under house arrest; however ,the Investigative Committee plans to bring him in under police convoy.