MOSCOW, April 26. /TASS/. Operation of the Navalny Headquarters movement was suspended over continued unauthorized rallies, the Moscow City Prosecutor’s Office told TASS Monday.
"Based on Articles 9 and 10 of the federal law ‘On countering extremist activity,’ of July 25, 2002, the Moscow City Prosecutor made a decision to suspend the operation of the Navalny Headquarters civic movement until the court reviews the case on elimination of the Anti-Corruption Foundation and Citizens’ Rights Protection Foundation non-profit organizations and prohibition of the Navalny Headquarters movement over extremist activities," the Prosecutor’s Office said.
"These measures were taken because leaders and members of these foundations and the Navalny Headquarters movement continue their illegal activities - in particular, they hold unauthorized mass events, including the one on April 21," the Office added.
The Prosecutor also filed an application on suspension of the abovementioned foundations, recognized as foreign agents in Russia. The Prosecutor’s Office also recalled that organizing or taking part in operation of a civic movement, suspended by the court, constitutes an administrative offence and carries a monetary fine.
On Monday, the Moscow City Court held a preliminary hearing on recognizing all three organizations as extremist. The hearings will continue until April 29. The Prosecutor’s Office believes that the organizations have been taking efforts to enable the destabilization of the social and political situation, while in fact they [the organizations] seek to create conditions for changing constitutional order, including via a "color revolution" scenario. Besides, the Prosecutor’s Office believes that these structures serve interests of foreign and international organizations deemed undesirable in Russia.
The Citizens’ Rights Protection Foundation has been established as a non-profit organization by Alexey Navalny’s supporters in 2019. It was recognized as an organization acting as a foreign agent in December 2020. The Anti-Corruption Foundation received this status in October 2019.