Russia opens criminal investigation against opponent Ilia Yachin

The repression continues. The Russian authorities have opened a “criminal investigation” against Ilia Iachine, one of the last opposition figures not to be in exile or sentenced to a long prison term. The Russian Investigative Committee, in charge of the main investigations, opened this investigation against the opponent for “dissemination of false information” on the Russian army, said his lawyer, Vadim Prokhorov, on Tuesday July 12 on Facebook. He adds having “received a call from the investigator”.

“A search begins at his home. I go there”, he added. Ilia Iachine, aged 39, was sentenced on June 28 to 15 days in detention for “disobedience to the police”, a charge he considered trumped up, and was therefore still in prison on Tuesday. He had earlier said on social media that he was supposed to be released shortly after 1 a.m. on Wednesday. “Maybe they’ll get me out. Maybe not”he had written.

The “dissemination of false information” on the Russian army is a new offense punishable by 15 years in prison, introduced after the start of the conflict in Ukraine. Since the beginning of the offensive, on February 24, the Russian authorities have carried out a fierce repression against the few critics of the conflict, pushing many of them into exile, others being imprisoned or prosecuted.

A well-known face of the opposition to President Vladimir Putin, Ilia Yachin had chosen to stay, publicly condemning the intervention in Ukraine. “The real reasons for my arrest are obviously political. I am an opponent, a deputy [municipal] independent, a critic of President Putin and an opponent of the war in Ukraine”he said during his arrest at the end of June.