Moscow’s Basmanny District Court has granted a request from investigators to issue an arrest warrant for Olga Mikhailova, a lawyer for Alexei Navalny, in a criminal case on a count of affiliation with an extremist group, the court told Interfax.
“The court ruled to take Mikhailova into custody as a pretrial restrictive measure for two months starting from the moment she is detained in Russia or is extradited to Russia,” the court said on Thursday.
Redan jan 2024 kom artikel om Navalnys advokat Olga Mikhailova åtalad i sin frånvaro för extremism:https://t.co/J1GeYjhhoW
— Ian Hammar (@IanHammar) February 16, 2024
Mikhailova has been charged in absentia with affiliation with an extremist group. She has been placed on the international wanted list.
Mikhailova said earlier that she has always fulfilled only her duties of an attorney to defend Navalny and represent his interests in various bodies of authority. She is now outside Russia and currently does not plan to return, saying she believes that she “will be more useful free than incarcerated.”
The court also ordered the issuing of an arrest warrant for Alexander Fedulov, another lawyer for Navalny, on the same charges.
Three lawyers of Navalny – Vadim Kobzev, Alexei Liptser and Igor Sergunin – were arrested in October 2023 in the extremist network case.
More sources at
Russia: Moscow court issues arrest warrant for Navalny’s defense lawyer Mikhailova
