From Lev Shlosberg’s Telegram channel, 2.10.2024

Friends, here is the afterword of this morning’s events. My heartfelt thanks to everyone who, during those hours, was worried, messaged, called, offered their support, and at present, are worried, messaging, calling, and offering their support. I’ll get back to you personally, albeit my response may be slightly delayed.

18+ THIS MATERIAL (INFORMATION) IS PRODUCED AND DISTRIBUTED BY FOREIGN AGENT LEV MARKOVICH SHLOSBERG OR CONCERNS ACTIVITIES RELATING TO FOREIGN AGENT LEV MARKOVICH SHLOSBERG. [This capitalised section is a text Lev Shlosberg is obliged to add under the ‘foreign agent’ law to any publication he makes; we include it here solely to give readers an idea of the pressures under which civil society actors operate in Russia]

Today at 6:10 am, representatives of the Russian Investigative Committee, armed with a search warrant, came to our home. The reason for their visit was the initiation of a criminal case against me on the 1 October, pursuant to Article 330.1, Part 2, of the Russian Criminal Code on “Failure to perform obligations set forth in Russian Federation legislation concerning foreign agents”. The search warrant was issued by Judge V. Malyamov of Pskov City Court.

Searches were carried out at the apartment where my wife Zhanna and I live, as well as at the apartment of my father, Mark Naumovich Shlosberg. I later also learned that, following these searches, a further search was carried out at the homes of people with no connection to me whatsoever. My guess is that this was the result of unreliable information obtained by the investigative authorities. I apologise to these decent, innocent individuals, and hope that the property seized during the search can be returned to them as soon as possible. The search of my apartment went on for seven hours and 50 minutes, after which, accompanied by our lawyer Vladimir Danilov, we were questioned by the head of the investigation at the Pskov Department of the Investigative Committee. I was questioned by the investigator as a suspect, yet no charge was brought against me.

I am not guilty of committing the crimes of which I am suspected; my actions do not constitute a crime. I presented a detailed legal argument to the investigator. Despite the fact that I reject the legal nature of the law and the actions of the Ministry of Justice, I punctiliously comply with all restrictions set forth by this repressive law. This is clear to everyone who reads my publications and watches my programmes. It’s common knowledge.

It goes without saying that I don’t consider myself to be, nor am I, a “foreign agent”. Everyone knows this, even the very people prosecuting me. I believe the law “on foreign influence” is totally unlawful, used exclusively for the purpose of unscrupulous political struggles and politically motivated prosecutions. This law should be completely repealed, all “foreign agents” should have this repressive status removed. My case is further grounds for this. There is no place for such laws in a state based on the rule of law. I pay tribute to my lawyer Vladimir Danilov for his unwavering commitment to defending my case. Once again, I would like to thank everyone for their sympathy and concern over what was happening to my family and I and the other individuals affected by this matter during those hours. Thank you for your solidarity. Where possible, I’d urge you to stay, if not calm, then composed. We’ll be in touch.

Sooner or later all of this will end, hopefully also thanks to our efforts. Thank you to everyone for your ongoing support.

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