July 13 (Reuters) – Boris Nadezhdin, a Russian anti-war politician who attempted to run against President Vladimir Putin in the 2024 presidential election, said on Monday he had been released from police custody and is due to appear in court on Friday, July 17.
Nadezhdin, a liberal member of Russia’s parliament from 1999 to 2003, was detained earlier on Monday, days after being designated a “foreign agent” by authorities.
The TASS news agency cited Nadezhdin’s lawyer as saying that he had been charged with displaying symbols of extremist organisations.
The lawyer said the case stemmed from a social media post linking to a video featuring Alexei Navalny and his Anti-Corruption Foundation, which Russian authorities have designated as extremist and banned.
If found guilty, Nadezhdin could face up to 15 days in detention.
An opponent of the war in Ukraine, Nadezhdin attempted to register as a candidate in the 2024 presidential election, but was blocked by the electoral commission, which cited errors among the 105,000 voter signatures he submitted.
The justice ministry on July 10 designated Nadezhdin as a “foreign agent”, a legal category that has been widely used against critics of the Kremlin.
(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Gareth Jones and Hugh Lawson)
