Russian Justice declares Navalny's organizations "extremists"

A Russian court tonight approved the prosecution's request to declare organizations linked to imprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny as “extremists”. The measure outlaws Navalny's movement in all areas and erases the main exponent of dissent from the map.

An hour before midnight in the Russian capital, and with the rest of the country in bed, the Moscow City Court declared Navalny's Foundation for the Fight Against Corruption (FBK) an extremist organization and prohibited its activity in the national territory. FBK was already listed as a foreign agent before.

The same measures were issued against another NGO linked to Navalni, the Foundation for the Defense of Citizen Rights -also labeled as a foreign agent in Russia- and the network of regional offices of the opposition.

According to the Prosecutor's Office, Navalny's opposition platform seeks the social and political destabilization of Russia and its objective is to change the country's constitutional order through a scenario of 'color revolutions', which is what Russia calls riots promoted by from abroad.

The trial was held behind closed doors on the grounds that some of the documents in the summary were classified as secret. The FBK's lawyers have said they will appeal the court's decision to label the organization an extremist..

The decision must be complied with immediately regarding the suspension of activity of the aforementioned organizations,” they told the Russian agency Sputnik from the court's press service..