Russian police raided the home of opposition activist Lyubov Sobol early on Friday and then took her in for probing, Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny and his supporters said. Navalny's supporters said they thought the police action was a response to her trying to knock at the door of an alleged FSB security agent in Moscow who Navalny says took part in a botched plot to poison him in August.
There was no immediate comment from the police. Supporters of Navalny said the police action appeared to be a response to Sobol visiting the home of an alleged FSB security service agent in Moscow. Navalny had earlier said the man took part in a botched plot to poison him in August.
The FSB has dismissed Navalny's allegations as a provocation designed to discredit it. Sobol was briefly detained on Monday after visiting the alleged agent's flat and ringing the doorbell. She was not let into the man's flat.
But Ivan Zhdanov, a lawyer for Navalny's anti-corruption organisation, said police suspected Sobol of violating the sanctity of someone's home with the use or threat of violence, a charge that carries a punishment of up to two years in jail. Navalny, one of President Vladimir Putin's most outspoken critics, said the authorities' response was disproportionate and confirmation that his allegations were true.
Sobol hopes to run for elections to the lower house of parliament next year. Police took away her computers and phones during Friday's raid, Navalny and his supporters said.
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