A journalist named Alexander Sokolov, who works at the Russian news agency RBC, was arrested in Moscow yesterday. He is suspected of participating in the activities of the “People’s Will Army,” which Russia considers to be an extremist group.
The “People’s Will Army” advocates holding the President and the Federal Assembly of Russia directly responsible for their activities.
Two other men have been arrested in connection with the organization’s activities: the head of the organization, Yuri Mukhin, was detained in Simferopol, Crimea, and brought to Moscow, and Mukhin’s colleague, Valery Parfenov, is also under arrest. The three men are suspected of “destabilizing the political situation, and aiming to replace the [country’s] current leadership illegally.”
Alexei Chernyshev, the lawyer of the arrested men, explained that his clients were trying to bring about amendments to the Constitution, and wanted to introduce a law “on responsible power.” The authors of these initiatives proposed evaluating the work of Russian parliament members, senators, and leaders after their time in office was up.
In 2009, Yuri Mukhin, the head of the organization, received a two-year suspended sentence for “calling for extremist activity.” Mukhin is a Stalinist and a conspiracy theorist. In the past, he has praised Stalin-era political repressions, and has claimed that German soldiers were responsible for the Katyn massacre in Poland during World War II. He has also claimed that the United States faked the moon landing, and blamed the CIA for organizing the 9/11 attacks.
After the organization “People’s Will Army” was branded as an extremist group, it became a public movement propagating the idea of a referendum “on responsible power.” Members of the organization wanted to evaluate the actions of those in power using a plebiscite.
According to the website OVD-Info, which monitors police repression in Russia, Sokolov is suspected of heading the organization’s propaganda activities, while Perfenov was allegedly recruiting new members and conducting fundraising activities.