Russian Agents Conduct Early Morning Search Of Navalny's Apartment

Russian opposition activist Aleksei Navalny (file photo)

Investigators in Moscow have conducted an early morning search of the apartment of outspoken Kremlin critic Aleksei Navalny.

Russia's Investigative Committee says agents arrived at Navalny's home at 4 a.m. June 20, in connection with a case in which he is alleged to have defrauded an opposition party in 2007.

A Navalny spokeswoman said several items were confiscated, including old invoices and Navalny's military registration booklet.

The chairwoman of the Moscow Helsinki Group, Lyudmila Alekseyeva, said the incident reminded her of night searches by security officers during Stalin's purges in the 1930s.

Navalny is currently under house arrest in connection with a fraud case involving the French cosmetics company Yves Rocher.

Navalny denies any wrongdoing, saying the case is politically motivated.

He is already serving a five-year suspended sentence for a $500,000 theft conviction, which he also says was a Kremlin reprisal.
Based on reporting by Interfax, ITAR-TASS, and AFP