A close ally said the Kremlin was trying to intimidate opposition politician Alexei Navalny to discourage him from returning to Russia to campaign after refusing to be poisoned.
Since
the 44-year-old died in Germany, where he was brought’ to Siberia for medical
treatment after falling ill in August, Navalny's team says Russian bailiffs
have frozen his bank accounts and He has taken the title in his flat.
The
Kremlin has since accused Navalny of working with the US Central Intelligence
Agency, forcing the pro-government Federal News Agency to report that Navalny
could be guilty of treason.
"We
see all sorts of threats from him: let's seize his apartment ... let's turn
matters into state treason," Leonid Volkov, a senior member of Navalny's
team, told Reuters.
"It's
clear that these are all fake products designed to intimidate."
Navalny
says he will return to Russia, and the Kremlin says he is free to do so. It has
denied Navalny's allegations that President Vladimir Putin was behind his
poisoning with a Novichok nerve agent.
Volkov
said, "Until August 20, we could not have imagined that in modern Russia
Putin could order Novelty to be poisoned with Novichok ... This is a new
reality that we have to learn to live with. ۔
"
Navalny
has complained for years that he has been barred’ from state media and has been
subjected to legal action and bogus criminal investigations aimed at curbing
his activities.
He
is the subject of a criminal investigation into an insult to a World War II veteran who promoted constitutional reform through Putin. Last week, Eugene Prigozhin,
a Kremlin-affiliated businessman announced new plans to prosecute Navalny for
sedition.
Navalny
had no doubts about returning home, Volkov said.
"Obviously
they don't want him back. And that's why he's coming."
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