Navalny's lawyer Mikhailova put on wanted list in Russia

MOSCOW. Feb 2 (Interfax) - The Russian Interior Ministry has put attorney Olga Mikhailova, Alexei Navalny's defense lawyer, on the wanted list.

A file with Mikhailova's data was published in the ministry's search database on Friday.

It states that Mikhailova is wanted on suspicion of a crime.

The Russian Investigative Committee charged Mikhailova in absentia in a case involving an extremist community earlier in January. "I have been charged with affiliation to Navalny's extremist network," she told Interfax.

Mikhailova said she has always fulfilled only her duties of an attorney to defend Navalny and represent his interests in various bodies of authority. She is now outside Russia and currently does not plan to return, saying she believes that she "will be more useful free than incarcerated."

Three of Navalny's lawyers - Vadim Kobzev, Alexei Liptser and Igor Sergunin - were arrested in October 2023 in the extremist network case.

All of them were charged with affiliation to an extremist network, which is punishable with a fine of 300,000 to 600,000 rubles or two to six years in a penitentiary with a ban on certain activity.

Navalny was convicted of fraud and some other crimes, including the establishment of an extremist network, the Anti-Corruption Foundation (branded extremist and banned in Russia). He is serving 19 years in a high-security penitentiary.