Anti-plagiarism activist Andrey Zayakin arrested in absentia for Navalny donation

Moscow Basmanny Court has ordered the arrest in absentia of Andrey Zayakin. Zayakin is best known as a co-founder of Dissernet, an online community for fighting plagiarism in the Russian academia. He is being charged with “sponsoring extremism.” The pretext for his arrest was his 1,000-ruble ($16 in today’s money) donation to Alexey Navalny’s anti-corruption team.

Zayakin writes for Novaya Gazeta Europe. The publication reports that Moscow Municipal Court has published the decision on its website.

Last August, Andrey Zayakin was arrested in Moscow. A court barred him from sending and receiving messages, using the phone and the Internet, and some other kinds of activity.

In October, it emerged that Zayakin was on the federal Wanted list. The following month, his name was added to the Russian list of extremists and terrorists, which entails a freeze of bank accounts. Zayakin was also designated a “foreign agent” in Russia.

Andrey Zayakin is now living abroad.

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