Yesterday—the first day after my 50-day arrest—I spent with my family.
And the plan for today was to finally watch Zolotov’s legendary address to me and start preparing a response.
But I’ll have to put that aside. This morning, an investigator from the Interior Ministry called my lawyer to say that today I am “required to appear to take part in an investigative procedure.”
What procedure?
The formal filing of charges in a criminal case.
You’ve probably already forgotten about the search of my apartment on June 1, 2016, haven’t you?
After our investigation into the Prosecutor General’s family, the authorities cobbled together a special criminal case that, at the time, was simply used as a pretext to take away my phones, computers, and other equipment so they could dig through it.
The complaint against me was filed by former Interior Ministry officer Pavel Karpov, who was implicated in the “Magnitsky case”. He was found to own luxury real estate, high-end cars, and so on—in quantities that would be completely out of reach for an Interior Ministry employee, even on the highest possible salary.
Officer Karpov claimed that the money for his luxury lifestyle came as “a gift from his wealthy friend.” And anyone who looks into other people’s money and finds corrupt origins in it is, apparently, a slanderer.
It was all absurdly funny, especially the part about the “wealthy friend.” Nevertheless, a case was immediately opened under Part 5 of Article 128.1: “Slander combined with accusing a person of committing a serious or especially serious crime.” I was summoned for questioning, where they searched me personally, then they went to my home, searched everything there too, and seized everything—from flash drives to computers.
When I asked, “What exactly are you hoping to find in an internet slander case? A slanderous website hidden under the bed?” the investigators put on stern faces.
Once the goal—digging through my computer—had been accomplished, the case quietly died for two years. The statute of limitations even expired.
But now they’ve gone rummaging in the closet, pulled it back out, and today I will officially become “a person charged under this article.”
As I understand it, they can’t arrest me today under this particular article—only enormous fines are предусмотрены there—but who the hell knows how the elaborate and inventive legal machine in Putin’s head works.
Just look at Primorye and Khakassia: people elected opposition governors there, and who is still sitting in their offices? United Russia politicians. And all of it is happening “strictly on the basis of current law.”
In any case, for the hundred-millionth time, I want to confirm that all this fuss will not affect our work. The ACF (Anti-Corruption Foundation) and the regional campaign offices will continue operating, and you should support us.