Kremlin jails elderly father of key Navalny associate, provoking ‘hostage’ claims

Ivan Zhdanov is the coordinator of Mr Navalny’s investigations into elite graft

Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny (AFP/Getty)

Russian authorities have broadened an attack on Alexei Navalny’s political machine by arresting and jailing the elderly father of the head of a key associate.

Ivan Zhdanov, who heads Mr Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK), alleged the Kremlin had fabricated corruption charges against his father, Yury Zhdanov, to punish him for his work.

They had essentially taken the 66-year-old as a hostage, he claimed, arresting him on Friday and processing and jailing him in pre-trial detention the following day.

“There is no doubt that the criminal case is connected with what I do,” Ivan Zhdanov wrote in a social media post. “They want to make my life hell.”

Until his retirement last summer, Yury Zhdanov served as the deputy head of a village council in the Nenets autonomous okrug (district), an oil-rich region in the Russian far north.

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The crimes he is accused of appear trifling. As a member of the village housing committee, Zhdanov Snr recommended granting a subsidised apartment to a young family.

It was later discovered the woman was already receiving housing benefit. A court ruled that the tenancy agreement should end and the flat returned to the council.

Mr Zhdanov is the only member of the council to face “abuse of office” charges, which, according to lawyer Vladimir Voronin, carry a maximum tariff of four years’ imprisonment.

Mr Navalny’s team say the charges are cynically targeted to mimic Ivan Zhdanov’s campaigning. As head of the opposition leader’s anti-corruption foundation, Mr Zhdanov has overseen a number of embarrassing investigations into the Russian elite’s corrupt real estate dealings.

A recent investigation revealed details of an opulent palace on the Black Sea, apparently built for the pleasures of the president.

It is highly unusual for a court to insist on pre-trial detention for the charges – more so in the case of a man in his sixties with no previous criminal record and with several documented health issues.

“I don’t think he can survive jail without losing his health, or even simply to survive jail,” Mr Zhdanov wrote.

The Navalny associate, who is now based in Europe, suggested that the Kremlin had reverted to such tactics after becoming worried about the prospects of new protests.

Ivan Zhdanov, director of the Anti-Corruption Foundation (Reuters)

Earlier this month, Navalny’s operation announced a new wave of demonstrations that would be launched as soon as half a million people showed their willingness to participate. Already that number stands at 353,000 – more, Mr Zhdanov claims, than organisers had projected at this point.

“I think they want to switch the agenda, so they need to do something despicable, and not with Navalny,” he said.

“I’m not going to hide it; for me it’s the most frightening thing that could happen.”