MOSCOW, August 13 (RAPSI/RIA Novosti) – Russia’s Investigative Committee has asked the Justice Ministry to take action against lawyers for an opposition activist under house arrest over talking to the media, the RAPSI legal news agency reported Tuesday, citing one of the lawyers.
The Investigative Committee is acting to stem the flow of political comments and statements by leftist opposition leader Sergei Udaltsov that are reported by the media, a lawyer for Udaltsov told RAPSI.
House arrest is designed to isolate an individual, limiting how he or she interacts with the outside world, the lawyer told RAPSI, explaining that Udaltsov is only allowed to communicate with his defense team.
Udaltsov’s lawyer told RAPSI that there has been no breach of procedure and that under Russian law nothing prevents lawyers acting on behalf of someone who is under house arrest from making what they say public.
The Justice Ministry has yet to receive any such notice, Russian media reported Tuesday.
Udaltsov was placed under house arrest on February 9. He is accused of plotting to incite mass riots in Russia on the eve of Vladimir Putin’s inauguration to his third presidential term, when police clashed with protesters during a rally on downtown Moscow’s Bolotnaya Square on May 6, 2012.
He denies the charges, and the allegation made in a documentary on Kremlin-friendly TV station NTV that he took foreign money to help foment dissent within Russia.
On August 1, a Russian court extended his house arrest term to October 6.
