From the investigators’ motion to change Alexei Navalny’s pretrial restrictions from a travel restriction order to house arrest:
Comments by Alexei Navalny’s lawyers, Olga Mikhailova and Vadim Kobzev: 1. In arguing for the need to place Alexei Navalny under house arrest, the investigators are misleading the court by claiming that Navalny violated the terms of his travel restriction order. Until January 14, Navalny had been permitted to travel to the Moscow Region. 2. The alleged “violations” consist of a trip to an off-site ACF seminar in the Odintsovo district and a week-long vacation by Navalny with his wife and children at a holiday resort outside Moscow. Notably, the extraordinary intensity of the surveillance of Navalny is illustrated by the fact that Directorate “K” of the FSB of the Russian Federation obtained documentation showing that Navalny had rented an ATV at the resort. 3. The reference to Navalny’s administrative detention is entirely baseless, not only because the case leading to his detention was brazenly fabricated, but also because the ruling has not entered into legal force. 4. Navalny is accused of traveling to the Moscow Region and taking part in rallies, yet the authorities are demanding his isolation and a ban on his use of the internet and communications, which directly indicates that the real aim is to deprive Navalny of the ability to maintain his blog and coordinate ACF’s anti-corruption activities. 5. We also draw attention to the fact that even Navalny’s transfer from the special detention facility to Basmanny Court was entrusted to the FSB (according to information provided by Basmanny Court), which clearly points to the extraordinary nature of the events surrounding Navalny and to the fact that they were sanctioned by the highest-ranking officials of the Russian Federation.
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