Russia’s state financial watchdog blacklists Navalny’s political network as ‘extremist’

Russia’s Federal Financial Monitoring Service (Rosfinmonitoring) has added Alexey Navalny’s network of campaign offices to its blacklist of groups accused of terrorist and extremist activities.

The state financial watchdog has designated the “Social Movement Navalny’s Campaign Offices” as extremist. It can now be found in Rosfinmonitoring’s online database under the subsection on Russian legal entities linked to terrorist and extremist activities (it’s listed under the number 461).

Navalny’s chief of staff, Leonid Volkov, has said previously that there is no legal entity called the “Social Movement Navalny’s Campaign Offices.”

The Russian authorities can block the bank accounts of people and organizations included in Rosfinmonitoring’s extremism and terrorism database. 

In April, Moscow prosecutors suspended the activities of Navalny’s regional campaign offices pending a decision from the Moscow City Court on adding this political network to Russia’s list of extremist organizations. The decision from the prosecutor’s office also referred to Navalny’s movement as the “Social Movement Navalny’s Campaign Offices.” On April 29, Leonid Volkov announced that Navalny’s countrywide network of campaign offices was officially disbanding. 

Moscow prosecutors also appealed to the Moscow City Court to designate Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation and Citizens’ Rights Protection Foundation as extremist. The court imposed preliminary restrictions on these organizations pending the extremism ruling, banning them from organizing rallies, taking part in electoral activities, and using their bank accounts.