Russian protest leader Navalny faces new probe

(31 Jul 2012) STORYLINE: Russian authorities charged Alexei Navalny, one of President Vladimir Putin's fiercest critics, with theft on Tuesday, threatening him with a 10-year prison sentence as the Kremlin ramps up a crackdown on dissent. Navalny rejected the charges as "weird" and baseless. Navalny, a 36-year-old anti-corruption crusader and popular blogger, has played a key role in rallying Russia's young Internet generation against Putin's rule. Over the winter, the lawyer spearheaded a series of rallies in Moscow that drew up to 100,000 people to the streets ahead of the March vote that handed Putin a third presidential term. The State Investigative Committee said on Tuesday that it suspects Navalny of organising a scheme to steal assets from a state timber company totalling 16 (m) million rubbles (about half a million dollars). He was ordered not to leave Moscow as the committee pursues an investigation against him. In Russia, authorities file initial charges to open a criminal probe, long before reaching the trial stage. Since Putin's re-election, the Russian government has struck back at the opposition, arresting some activists and using legislation to try curbing its activities. Parliament, controlled by Putin loyalists, passed a bill that raised fines 150-fold for people taking part in unsanctioned protests. Another bill passed this month requires non-governmental groups receiving funding from abroad and engaging in political activity to register as foreign agents. The probe against Navalny focuses on events dating to 2009 when he served as an adviser to a provincial governor in the Kirov region. Investigators allege that he colluded with the head of a state timber company and a trader to rob it. A previous probe into similar allegations was closed earlier this year for lack of evidence. Investigative Committee chief Alexander Bastrykin recently chided a local investigator for closing that case. Under the renewed probe, investigators reworded the charges, which carry a heavier punishment compared to those dropped. Navalny, who has more than 270-thousand followers on Twitter and owes much of his popularity to his investigations of rampant official corruption, has in recent days targeted Bastrykin, claiming that the chief investigator has covertly obtained a Czech residency permit and bought an apartment in Prague. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/7c2445bc8475010aef79d938c1ce12e4 Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork