Russian authorities on Thursday included in the list of wanted people Maria Pevtchikh, director of the board of directors of the Anti-Corruption Fund (FBK) of imprisoned opponent Alexeï Navalny, whose relatives have not heard from her for two weeks.
• Read also: American Paul Whelan, detained in Russia, feels “abandoned” by Washington
• Read also: Presidential election in Russia: 16 candidacies filed to date, according to the Electoral Commission
“Maria Konstantinovna Pevtchikh is wanted under an article of the criminal code,” we can read on the database of the Russian Interior Ministry.
However, it is not specified under which article Ms. Pevtchikh, who lives in exile in London and who is already considered by the authorities as a “foreign agent”, is wanted.
In fact, this prevents this critic of the Kremlin from returning to Russia under penalty of being arrested.
“Dangerous!”, she quipped in reaction on the social network
Mr Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Fund was declared “extremist” by Russian authorities in 2021.
Supporters of the opponent, imprisoned in early 2021 after surviving an assassination attempt by poisoning that he blames on the Kremlin, have not heard from him for more than two weeks.
They fear his transfer to another prison with a stricter regime, a procedure which often takes weeks in Russia, a huge territory meshed with penitentiary establishments inherited from the Soviet era and many of which are located in reclusive regions of the country.
“Alexei should have an audience now. He did not show up again,” lamented Kira Iarmich, the exiled spokesperson for the anti-corruption activist, on Thursday.
“It has been 16 days since we have had any information on Alexei,” she lamented about the opponent who is currently serving a 19-year sentence for “extremism”.
Several international NGOs and foreign officials have been alarmed in recent days by the disappearance of Mr. Navalny.
Faced with a crushed opposition, Vladimir Putin is aiming for a new six-year term in the Kremlin during the presidential election next March.