Russian authorities order Navalny organization to suspend operations

Russia’s top prosecutor filed an injunction Monday ordering the organization run by Alexei Navalny to suspends its activities while a court rules on whether the group should be outlawed as an extremist organization.

The Associated Press reported that associates of Navalny, a Putin critic who remains imprisoned by Russian authorities, said they would comply with the injunction until the court ruling, which is expected as early as Monday.

“It’s a total travesty of justice and lawlessness once again in Putin’s Russia,” said Lyubov Sobol, a producer and lawyer for Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation.

“Labeling us as extremists — contrary to the common sense and to the laws of this country, because obviously we’re not involved in any extremism — is quite a serious attack on our organization. We will have to survive in completely different conditions,” she continued. “But I am sure our work won’t stop.”

The Anti-Corruption Foundation supports candidates in local elections who are not aligned with the Kremlin, while also producing content that shines a light on allegations of corruption involving Russian President Vladimir Putin and his top associates.

Navalny, the group’s founder, has been imprisoned since returning to Russia earlier this year after recovering for several months in a German hospital, where he was flown after suffering Novichok poisoning. Western governments and Navalny have accused Moscow of attempted murder, which the Kremlin denies. He remains jailed on a probation violation stemming from a 2014 embezzlement conviction that European human rights experts have dismissed as politically motivated.

Navalny’s imprisonment has led to protests in Russia, and two of his top associates were recently arrested.

In March, the Biden administration announced sanctions on specific high-tech exports bound for Russia in response to Navalny’s poisoning, and also targeted seven senior members of Russia’s government with punitive measures.