One day they’ll invent 9D cinema, but I’ve already seen it. I was summoned at the same time both to the Investigative Committee and to Kirov for a court hearing. I went to the Investigative Committee, sat through some trivial investigative procedure, and read on Twitter how the court was discussing whether my failure to appear was for a valid reason or not. Then the court announced a recess to set the date of the next hearing. At that moment, one of the investigators brought me a court summons for June 17. I said to him: excuse me, but I’m reading the live court feed, and I know the hearing is in recess; no hearing has been scheduled for the 17th. Investigator: well, sign for it anyway. Me: where did you even get this summons? Where did it come from? Are you a court bailiff? What case is this summons for? Investigator: it’s for the “Kirovles” case. Me: you’re not handling the “Kirovles” case at all. You shouldn’t know anything about it. Anyway, we left the Investigative Committee. I got into the car and kept reading the live feed: the prosecution was asking for my arrest and, as an argument, cited the opinion of that very same investigator who had summoned me to the Investigative Committee today. WHAT?
I made it to the office. The judge had retired to decide on the preventive measure. I’m reading how everyone is placing bets: will they arrest me or not? A van from Channel One (Russia’s main state TV network) pulled up outside the office. The judge comes out, and I keep watching the movie. In perfect keeping with the best thriller conventions, the judge first says that my reason was invalid and that I’m the villain (Twitter: arrest! arrest!), and then says there’s no need to arrest me, that all that’s needed is a compulsory appearance on the 17th. The very same date the investigator had mentioned to me even before the hearing. Inside the Channel One van, they’re worried: there won’t be any good footage for now.
These manipulations only seem strange. The explanation is simple: the Kremlin riffraff have drawn up “Navalny’s schedule” in such a way that I won’t be able to complete the nomination and registration process as a mayoral candidate. The schedule is being coordinated by our old acquaintance, spy Bastrykin, and his underlings. They set the dates for court hearings in Kirov, and they invent bogus pretexts to summon me to the Investigative Committee in Moscow. So tomorrow I’m going there again, so that once again, just like today, I can spend an hour waiting at the entrance checkpoint and several more hours in an office.
No one must be allowed to interfere with the quiet, peaceful election campaign of old man Sobyanin and United Russia.
Nothing of the sort. We’re not giving up that easily. My colleagues and I will do everything possible to complete all the necessary procedures and take part in the election. Yesterday I met with municipal deputies; they promised to help us get through the “filter” (the requirement to collect endorsements from local deputies in order to register as a candidate).
So our 9D movie is still far from over. Let Putin and his ghoul entourage not get their hopes up.