Monday. That means there are fewer traffic jams today, the workday starts later, and a new criminal case is opened against Navalny. This melancholy tweet by The Guardian's Moscow correspondent describes what is happening better than anything else. The Main Investigative Directorate of Russia’s Investigative Committee has separated into a distinct case materials from the criminal investigation into the embezzlement of property belonging to the company Kirovles, in which Alexei Navalny and Pyotr Ofitserov are defendants, concerning the theft in 2007 by Allect, a company headed by Navalny, of funds belonging to the political party Union of Right Forces. The investigation has established that in April 2007, a contract for advertising services was concluded between the political party Union of Right Forces and the company Allect. In total, about 100 million rubles (roughly over $3 million at the time) were transferred under the contract from the political party to Allect’s settlement account. In turn, Allect, headed by A. Navalny, transferred the funds it received to the accounts of firms, most of which showed signs of being shell companies or so-called fly-by-night firms. To this day, no one has provided the investigation with documents confirming fulfillment of the terms of the contract. On this basis, the Main Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation has today opened a criminal case under Part 4 of Article 159 of the Russian Criminal Code (fraud). As part of the criminal case, the necessary investigative actions and other procedural measures are being carried out to establish all the circumstances of the crime. The involvement of Allect’s managers, including Alexei Navalny, as well as other persons, is being examined. From the Investigative Committee’s website. They even picked out a stylish little photo of me:
Soon they’ll probably add a special section called “The Chronicle of Navalny’s Crimes.” I simply can’t keep up with the sprightly Investigative Committee and the group of ten investigators assigned by Pan Bastrykin to fabricate cases. And just as New Times has published a long article about the previous case,
they’ve already rolled out a new one. With the wonderful line: "To this day, no one has provided the investigation with documents confirming fulfillment of the terms of the contract." Excellent. I learn everything from the media. My lawyer calls the investigator, who also clearly knows nothing and can’t explain anything coherently. You see, the investigation hasn’t been given the documents. To this day. The best part is that this whole SPS (Union of Right Forces) story has been written about a million times; there’s nothing secret about it. Here’s Vedomosti, for example. All the documents were submitted to the Central Election Commission and the Justice Ministry. Judging by the phrase "100 million rubles," the investigators haven’t even seen the documents. There was a contract with a maximum amount of 100 million rubles, but every specific transfer of funds was certified by separate addenda, and the actual amount was much smaller. Belykh financed the SPS election campaign, and part of the funds allocated for outdoor advertising was distributed under an agency agreement by a company of which I was a founder. The same Belykh has grown tired of saying in every interview that everything went perfectly and that he has no complaints against anyone. Here is today’s statement as well. SPS as a whole says the same thing too—or rather, said it, since it no longer exists. But apparently no one provided the Investigative Committee with any documents. How terrible. Well, it’s now clear that I was absolutely right about the tactics of the Foreign Agent, approved by the Chief Crook at the December 13 meeting. As part of the first fabricated case, they carried out a whole series of searches and seized the accounting records of every organization in any way connected to me. Now they simply take any transaction entry, point at it, and say: "Fraud! No one has yet provided the investigation with documents confirming fulfillment of the contract." Exactly like that. I’m not exaggerating. Anyone can imagine themselves in this situation. Suppose you bought 1,000 rubles’ worth of haloperidol to hand out free to employees of the Main Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee. You bought it at a pharmacy, brought the box home, and want to distribute the medicine at the entrance on Tekhnichesky Lane, 4. Then Markin comes out in a blue tunic with gold epaulettes and declares: A fraudulent transaction has been committed. A company was registered for the purpose of committing this crime, and by deceptive means it obtained haloperidol. The damage from these fraudulent actions amounts to 2,000 rubles (your 1,000 plus the value of the haloperidol). You say: but how so? Here is the haloperidol. Worth 1,000 rubles. I bought it at the pharmacy. The pharmacy says: on such-and-such date, we rang up 1,000 rubles’ worth of haloperidol for him. Markin: the investigation will establish everything. Searches and seizures are currently underway. To this day, no one has provided the investigation with documents confirming the beneficial effects of haloperidol. As soon as we drive the vampire desman (a small semi-aquatic Russian mammal) from Venus out of the Investigative Committee building, we will conduct searches and seizures at the suspect’s grandmother’s apartment. He was officially registered at her address until the age of 14, and she must be checked for involvement in the theft. That is exactly how all this happens. Everyone around is laughing, and these new announcements of criminal cases provoke nothing but jokes.
You go to the Investigative Committee three times a day for some nonsense called “investigative actions,” and you’re stuck under a travel restriction. Grandma is worried because they turned her apartment upside down during the search, and she will most likely become an accomplice in a new case about stolen buckwheat. The Main Investigative Directorate staff have been left without haloperidol, and now not only the vampire desman but also a pink elephant lives in the corridors of the Investigative Committee. PS Since posts about criminal cases against me get, on average, more traffic than my other posts, let me remind you that RosPil is once again raising money for its work. So far we’ve collected half of what we’re aiming for. We had problems with PayPal, which blocked the account because of the high volume of transactions, but everything is fine now. Yandex.Money. Wallet number 41001859832724 PayPal or payment by regular bank card here.
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