Page 30 - RusRPTSept21

2.12 Politics - misc
President Biden has appointed close former adviser Amos Hochstein as a State Department energy envoy charged with implementing a U.S.-Germany deal allowing the Nord Stream 2 pipeline to be completed, sources familiar with the decision tell Axios. Hochstein has been a leading voice against Nord Stream 2, a strategic and financial priority for the Kremlin that will allow Russia to bypass Ukraine and deliver gas directly to the heart of Europe.
Opposition leader Alexey Navalny, along with former head of the “Navalny Headquarters” Leonid Volkov and Director of the Anti-Corruption Foundation Ivan Zhdanov -- both leaders of organizations given the legal designation “extremist” and banned in Russia -- are now being charged with infringing on “the identity and rights of citizens” by “encouraging citizens to commit illegal acts.” Others previously charged under this law include сult leader “God Kuza” and leader of the terrorist group Aum Shinrikyo. The charges that they now face relate to the 2011 creation of the Anti-Corruption Foundation, and their January 2021 calls to participate in unauthorized rallies. Navalny responded in a statement that he should be called ‘Doc Brown Navalny’ or ‘Marty McNavalny,’ because prosecutors were taking a ‘time machine’ to 2011 for these charges. If found guilty, they could each face three years in prison. Alexey Navalny is already serving 2.5 years in prison for violating parole in relation to a 2014 case.
30 RUSSIA Country Report September 2021 www.intellinews.com