Ex-head of regional Navalny’s headquarters Liliya Chanysheva presented with final charges, could face up to 18 years behind bars

Liliya Chanysheva, ex-head of Navalny’s headquarters in the Russian city of Ufa, was presented with final charges under three articles, reports Ivan Zhdanov, associate of Alexey Navalny. 

Chanysheva is accused of calls for extremism, extremist community activities through abuse of office, and foundation of an organisation that violates citizens’ rights. 

In total, the activist could face up to 18 years of imprisonment, Zhdanov emphasises. 

“The court hearings [will probably be held] in Bashkiria, where the local tsar Khabirov rules, he hates Liliya. The local FSB agents have already threatened her by saying she’d get 15 years,” Zhdanov writes. 

A Moscow Basmanny district court extended Chanysheva’s stay in custody until 9 October. She has been held in a pre-trial detention centre for almost a year — Ufa’s district court arrested her over charges of founding an extremist community on 10 November. 

The Investigative Committee opened a criminal case on founding and leading an extremist community against Alexey Navalny in September 2021. The other persons of interest in the case are Navalny’s associates Leonid Volkov and Ivan Zhdanov.