The police crackdown in Volokolamsk spreads to the home of the town's mayor

Officers from the Moscow region’s economic crimes police unit have raidedthe home of Volokolamsk Mayor Pyotr Lazarev, who says he’s received threats from high-ranking state officials and “certain criminal figures,” demanding that his administration stop issuing permits for local protests against the “Yadrovo” landfill. Lazarev says he’s the focus of a fraud investigation. Police also raided the Volokolamsk City Hall, searching for documents in an ongoing case. It was the second raid on the administration building this month.

On April 12, police raided the home of Yulia Kulikova, one of the defense attorneys for Artem Lyubimov, a businessman recently arrested “for resisting police.” Lyubimov has helped organize many of the town’s protests against the Yadrovo garbage dump. Officers also reportedly raided his home.

Also on Thursday, law enforcement also raided the offices of the newspaper Volokolamsk Weekly and the “Moscow Raceway” sporting arena — both owned by the businessman Rustem Teregulov. According to the newspaper’s chief editor, police officers and investigators were looking for evidence of affiliations with several other companies suspected of criminal activity. Volokolamsk Weekly has reported extensively on the local protests against air pollution caused by the Yadrovo landfill.

This isn’t the first time the Moscow regional authorities have raided the offices and homes of local businessmen who supported Volokolamsk’s protesters.