Russia Charges Protest Leader in Riot Probe
Russia on Friday charged protest leader Sergei Udaltsov with plotting mass riots in a controversial probe that has seen the detention of another activist who claims to have been tortured into confessing.
Udaltsov was charged after being summoned by the Investigative Committee for questioning over an alleged plot to hold mass riots with international funding to topple President Vladimir Putin.
Two men have already been charged in the probe, including Leonid Razvozzhayev, an aide to an opposition parliamentary lawmaker, who has retracted a confession that he said he made under pressure after being kidnapped by Russian security agents in Ukraine.
Udaltsov, 35, the shaven-headed leader of the radical Left Front movement, has been one of the most prominent organizers and speakers of mass protests against Putin and has been detained numerous times for public order offenses.
He walked out of the office of Russia's chief investigative body after being charged, wearing his trademark jeans and black bomber jacket and raising one hand in triumph.
"I did not plan, prepare or organize mass riots," he said in televised comments.
"I support peaceful mass protests."
Udaltsov has been charged with plotting mass riots but not carrying them out for reasons beyond his control.
"Udaltsov did not admit his guilt. While being questioned as a defendant, he gave detailed testimony on the circumstances behind the charge," the Investigative Committee said in a statement.
He was not arrested as had been widely expected but remains under travel restrictions that prevent him from leaving Moscow.
Russia launched a criminal probe after pro-Kremlin national channel NTV this month showed a documentary with hidden camera footage that alleged that Udaltsov and others were planning an uprising funded by a Georgian lawmaker.
Udaltsov has rejected the allegations as the "delirium of a lunatic".
His aide Konstantin Lebedev has already been detained and handed the same charge, which could lead to a jail term of up to 10 years.
Razvozzhayev told rights activists who visited him in prison that he was kidnapped by masked men in Ukraine who held him prisoner, denying him food and drink for several days, until he signed a confession.
One of his lawyers, Anna Stavitskaya, told Agence France Presse he would be questioned Friday on his statement that he gave testimony under pressure and that there would be a formal investigation that she did not expect to confirm his account.
"Today he will be questioned about his statement that he was interrogated under pressure. They will carry out a check. Of course no one is going to establish those circumstances... No one is going to admit he was tortured."
Another lawyer, Mark Feigin, said Thursday Razvozzhayev had drawn up a statement to investigators withdrawing his written and videotaped confessions, saying they were made under pressure.
The Investigative Committee's spokesman insisted Friday that Razvozzhayev's retraction of his testimony would not affect the case.
"If Mr Razvozzhayev and his associates think that their testimony or denial of their testimony are a key factor in the case, I can disappoint them," spokesman Vladimir Markin said in televised remarks.
"The investigation has enough other clues and proof, received and checked through investigation and operations."
Experts see the charges as part of a crackdown by Putin on the protest movement that has involved harsher punishments for public order offenses and a criminal probe into charismatic protest leader Alexei Navalny.
"The authorities are very concerned at the wave of protests and are prepared to take the most serious measures," Sergei Kovalyov, chairman of Memorial rights group, told AFP.
"Both the laws and the courts are ready for this. And it is happening already: they are reviving political repressions."
Source: Agence France Presse
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