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Navalny refuses to give sample of his signature to investigators

At present, the blogger and his lawyer at the office of the foundation for counteracting corruption "Rospil
Photo ITAR-TASS
Photo ITAR-TASS

MOSCOW, June 13 (Itar-Tass) — Blogger Alexei Navalny has refused to give samples of his handwriting and signature at the Investigative Committee /SK/ on Wednesday, his lawyer Vadim Kobzev said.

"There was no questioning as such today. Navalny was asked to give samples of his handwriting and signature for comparative analysis, but he refused," Kobzev said.

According to the lawyer, the samples were needed for an expert examination, but "they have not told us anything about such an expert examination yet."

So far, no new summons to come for questioning have been handed in to Navalny.

At present, the blogger and his lawyer at the office of the foundation for counteracting corruption "Rospil." They are awaiting the investigators to search the safe which was impounded on Tuesday because Navalny had no keys to it at the time.

On June 12, SK summoned for questioning within the May 6 riots case Sergei and Anastasia Udaltsov, Ilya Yashin, Ksenia Sobchak, Alexei Navalny, Maria Baronova, Alexei Sakhnin, Maria Dobrokhotova and Boris Nemtsov. They will be questioned as witnesses.

Udaltsov did not turn up at the SK on June 12. He wrote a statement to the investigators saying he "will be taking part in a rally."

Navalny has been summoned for new questioning. The SK is also awaiting anchor Ksenia Sobchak who refused to testify during the questioning on Tuesday. Earlier, the investigators searched his foundation as well as the apartments of Opposition activists Udaltsov, Yashin, and Sobchak.

Lawyer Vadim Kobzev said police had not taken away computers or documents. "They only retrieved Navalny's mobile phone, several CDs and flash cards," Kobzev said.

SK spokesman Vladimir Markin said "the investigators are seeking information about the organizers and actives participants in the mass disturbances in Moscow's Bolotnaya Square on May 6. They examined the databases in the presence of the questioned persons and heard their explanations."

Specifically, the investigators were interested in the origin of the 1 million euros, 480,000 dollars and 480,000 roubles retrieved during a search in Ksenia Sobchak's apartment. "The investigator will find out if she has paid taxes on this sum; a tax audit is due. The investigator will also ascertain the purpose for which she kept this huge sum packed in more than 100 envelopes," Markin said.

He underlined that more investigative actions would be taken with respect to all Opposition representatives. The SK will carry out expert examinations of all the retrieved objects and documents.