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Moscow Court Finds Opposition Activist's Pretrial Arrest Legal


Russian opposition activist Leonid Razvozzhayev
Russian opposition activist Leonid Razvozzhayev
A Moscow court has ruled that the pretrial detention of opposition activist Leonid Razvozzhayev was legal.

Razvozzhayev was detained last month for allegedly plotting mass riots in Moscow.

Investigators said in October that Razvozzhayev turned himself in to the authorities and confessed that a Georgian official financed an anti-Kremlin demonstration in Moscow in May.

During the November 7 hearing, Razvozzhayev retracted his confession of guilt.

Meanwhile, Razvozzhayev's lawyers say he was kidnapped from Kyiv, Ukraine, where he tried to get asylum, was tortured, and brought to Moscow against his will.

Joseph Kruzich, press attache at the U.S. embassy in Moscow, told Russian media last month that Washington had officially expressed concern to the Russian foreign ministry over Razvozzhayev's situation and asked Moscow to "examine the issue carefully."

Based on reporting by Interfax and ITAR-TASS

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