Be sure to read this to get a better sense of just how much the authorities hate the ACF (Anti-Corruption Foundation), to the point of fabricating criminal cases this blatantly.
In other words, the Investigative Committee and the FSB are openly creating criminal groups to commit offenses covered by Article 299 of the Russian Criminal Code, “Knowingly prosecuting an innocent person,” Article 285, “Abuse of office,” Article 286, “Exceeding official authority,” and so on.
They simply targeted an ordinary guy from Vladimir, tricked him into signing a statement (here it is, by the way).
They take the statement at 9 p.m., and by 10:30 p.m. (as the fax timestamp shows), the Vladimir regional FSB office sends a report to FSB headquarters.
Sometime between 10:30 p.m. and 4 a.m. the next day, no less than an FSB major general passes along this supposedly earth-shattering operational evidence to the Investigative Committee.
And at 4 a.m., the FSB and the Investigative Committee search my home, classifying it as an emergency measure that could not be delayed, without a court order:
As you already know, the Main Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee has now set up an operational-investigative group for this case, headed by an investigator for especially important cases. A whole lot of people have been questioned: from my wife to ACF employees, members of the Progress Party, and just random people (Anna Biryukova, Galina Koposova, Dmitry Taralov, Vladislav Naganov, Nikolai Lyaskin).
And all of this is still going on, with all these resources tied up on the basis of a statement deceitfully obtained from a painter-janitor from Vladimir. And note this well: they won’t let him withdraw the statement—they say they’ve “lost” it.
I have little doubt that the people behind this filth are Volodin, Neverov, Yakunin, and the other residents of “Sosny” and “Akulinino” (elite residential compounds associated with Russia’s political elite).
What matters to them, however lawlessly, is cobbling together a case against ACF staff, especially the investigations department: Alburov and Kulachenkov are the main targets here. They even searched their homes and seized computers. Putin probably finds the four criminal cases fabricated against me personally sufficient, but these people are clearly enraged by our dacha tours and by the fact that we keep raising the taboo subject of illicit enrichment, using their own examples complete with vivid pictures—and even taking people on tours of their palaces_._
So what can I say in response? As always, I’ll say this: you will not intimidate us. We will keep talking about illicit enrichment, we will try to do it louder, and we will absolutely keep using concrete examples from the list of these thieving faces they show us on television. We will continue the dacha tours, and we hope you’ll take part in them.
I have a request for everyone: please help spread this post and/or the interview with Sotov. We can’t outshout the Kremlin media, of course, but at least more people will know the truth when new TV reports full of lies about this case start airing.
And of course, many thanks to journalist Ilya Shepelin, who somehow managed to track down the artist Sotov and interview him.