Switch Language

Yesterday, 25 July, the Leninsky District Court of Perm sent activist Leonid Melekhin to a pre-trial detention centre at the request of an FSB investigator—he is charged with “justifying terrorism” (Article 205.2 of the Russian Criminal Code). Properm.ru reported this, citing a source. However, on the website of the Leninsky District Court, there was no case card found for the activist by name, by the article, nor by the name of the judge—Oksana Korepanova.

Properm.ru clarifies that Melekhin “had been wanted for several years.” According to the activist’s profile on the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs’ website as of 26 July, he is still “wanted under a criminal article.” As Mediazona found out, Melekhin was added to the wanted list database no later than 7 June 2024.

It is not reported what exactly triggered the criminal case against Melekhin. There are no registered administrative cases in the Perm Krai courts against him.

On 10 October 2024, Leonid Melekhin’s surname was added to Rosfinmonitoring’s list of “terrorists and extremists.” A star symbol next to his name means a criminal case has been opened against him under a “terrorism” article.

After leaving Russia, Melekhin attempted to emigrate to the United States via Mexico—he tried to cross the border between the two countries in August 2024.

After this, Melekhin was placed in a US immigration detention centre. The activist tried to challenge the American authorities in court, but lost the legal cases concerning his right to stay in the country.

According to Properm.ru, “all this time” Leonid Melekhin was wanted “for cooperating with Navalny’s team.”

After losing the court cases, he was handed over to the Russian authorities and deported to Russia. He was remanded in custody until 25 September this year.

Sergey Ukhov, founder of the project “Perm 36.6” and former coordinator of Navalny’s office in Perm, confirmed to Idel.Realii that Melekhin had left for the US and applied for asylum there.

“He really spent a long time in a detention centre. Journalist Yuri Bobrov, who is also in the US, closely followed his story on his channel. Unfortunately, the US authorities do not provide information about deportations, so we didn’t know about it,” Ukhov said.

29 July According to Mediazona, the case against Leonid Melekhin for justifying terrorism was initiated because of a photo of a placard calling for Vladimir Putin to be sent to the gallows.

An anonymous source close to Melekhin told journalists that the accusation was based on a post in the Telegram channel of Perm-based activist Yuri Bobrov: in one photo, Melekhin is taking a selfie at a border crossing; in another, there is a photo of a placard on Kommunalny Bridge in Perm. “Hi, before leaving, I couldn’t resist and hung Putin on the Kommunalny Bridge in Perm. Post a pic somewhere, or it’ll be a shame if hardly anyone sees it,” Bobrov quoted Melekhin as saying.

The placard reads: “Putin V.V. murderer fascist usurper / All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do nothing / fascist to the gallows.”

1 August The Perm Krai Court kept Leonid Melekhin in custody, reports Properm.

The publication said that Melekhin “fully admitted guilt, realised his mistakes and is cooperating with the investigation.” Earlier, his court-appointed lawyer Valery Kuznetsov told Mediazona that the defendant was aware of the criminal case and “asked himself to return” to Russia.

  • In 2023 the activist came out with a placard saying “Freedom to Navalny” in central Perm. At that time, law enforcement detained him, took him to the police station, and let him go after he gave an explanation.