Ex-activist of Open Russia Anastasia Shevchenko put on the wanted list in Russia

Russia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs has put the ex-activist of political organisation Open Russia Anastasia Shevchenko on the wanted list, the information is available on the agency’s database.

It is not clarified what laws Shevchenko has allegedly broken. Shevchenko herself told the Rain outlet that she was currently in the US for the premiere of her documentary Anastasia. The movie tells the story of her persecution.

Shevchenko was the first person in Russia to become a person of interest in an “undesirable organisation” case. She was found guilty of participating in political debates and organising a seminar for deputy candidates. A Rostov-on-Don court ruled Shevchenko be given four years of suspended prison sentence.

In July, ex-director of Open Russia Andrey Pivovarov was sentenced to four years of prison under the same article. The investigation claimed that he had posted “agitational information” in support of an “undesirable” organisation in August 2020. Later, it turned out that the information in question was 30 Facebook posts.