Russia Opens Criminal Probe of Corruption-Fighting Blogger

Russian investigators opened a criminal probe into Alexei Navalny, an anti-corruption blogger who has campaigned against wrongdoing at state companies.

Officials are investigating claims Navalny caused “material damage” through fraud or abuse of trust, Vladimir Markin, spokesman for the Investigative Committee of the Prosecutor General’s Office in Moscow, said in comments made to RIA Novosti and confirmed by his office today. Navalny said in a phone interview that the aim is to scare him into stopping his campaign. His lawyer, Dmitry Volov, dismissed the accusations as “not serious.”