The Federal Security Service has charged Eduard Limonov, a radical writer and head of the National Bolshevik Party, with participating in the illegal procurement of weapons.
Limonov was arrested on April 7 with Sergei Aksyonov, editor of the Limonka newspaper, and six other National Bolshevik Party members near the remote Altai village of Bannoye. He and Aksyonov are now being held at Moscow's Lefortovo Prison.
Limonov's lawyer Sergei Belyak said the FSB on Tuesday charged his client and Aksyonov with belonging to a group involved in the illegal procurement of weapons. If found guilty, they each face up to eight years in prison.
FSB officials could not be reached for comment.
Belyak said he believes Limonov's arrest is linked to the arrest of three NBP members in Samara and Ufa as they were trying to purchase pistols last month. He said Limonov has never met the three men who were arrested and said he doubted prosecutors would be able to make the charges stick.
He added that the arrest may be linked with court hearings in Riga for four NBP members on trial for seizing the city's St. Peter's Cathedral in a protest in November.
Anatoly Tishin, the head of the NBP in Moscow, said Limonov's harsh criticism of the Kremlin and regional officials was possibly behind the arrest.
Earlier this month, Limonov accused President Vladimir Putin of having secret ties with the oligarchs in a column for the eXile, an English-language alternative newspaper. He also has been critical of Krasnoyarsk Governor Alexander Lebed and recently wrote a book about the governor's arch-rival Anatoly Bykov, the former Krasnoyarsk Aluminum head who is also in jail at Lefortovo. Bykov is charged with embezzlement, gun-running and ordering a contract murder.
Limonov was expelled from the Soviet Union in the 1970s and rose to prominence in the West after publishing the controversial book "It's Me ?€” Edik."
Belyak said Limonov's writings alone were not likely enough evidence to issue an arrest warrant.
Tishin said the party and Limonov personally cannot be held responsible for the actions of the party members, adding that he thought the arrest was an attempt to silence small radical factions.
"They left the party headless, which demonstrates that the process of party construction is under way in the country," he said, referring to the planned merger of the Unity and Fatherland parties. Other political parties could be next in line, he added.
NBP members who were with Limonov during his arrest recounted additional details Thursday about what happened when dozens of FSB officials stormed a house rented by Limonov.
"They broke in early in the morning when everybody was asleep and dragged us out by the hair and then forced us to undress and kneel," said Dmitry Bakhor, who spent several months in jail in 1999 after throwing eggs at filmmaker Nikita Mikhailkov.
Bakhor said that he, Limonov and the other NBP members spent 11 hours handcuffed in a cold shed while the agents searched the house. "They were punching us, demanding that we tell where we hid the weapons," Bakhor said.
Bakhor and five other party activists were released after a night in custody.
Limonov was arrested on April 7 with Sergei Aksyonov, editor of the Limonka newspaper, and six other National Bolshevik Party members near the remote Altai village of Bannoye. He and Aksyonov are now being held at Moscow's Lefortovo Prison.
Limonov's lawyer Sergei Belyak said the FSB on Tuesday charged his client and Aksyonov with belonging to a group involved in the illegal procurement of weapons. If found guilty, they each face up to eight years in prison.
FSB officials could not be reached for comment.
Belyak said he believes Limonov's arrest is linked to the arrest of three NBP members in Samara and Ufa as they were trying to purchase pistols last month. He said Limonov has never met the three men who were arrested and said he doubted prosecutors would be able to make the charges stick.
He added that the arrest may be linked with court hearings in Riga for four NBP members on trial for seizing the city's St. Peter's Cathedral in a protest in November.
Anatoly Tishin, the head of the NBP in Moscow, said Limonov's harsh criticism of the Kremlin and regional officials was possibly behind the arrest.
Earlier this month, Limonov accused President Vladimir Putin of having secret ties with the oligarchs in a column for the eXile, an English-language alternative newspaper. He also has been critical of Krasnoyarsk Governor Alexander Lebed and recently wrote a book about the governor's arch-rival Anatoly Bykov, the former Krasnoyarsk Aluminum head who is also in jail at Lefortovo. Bykov is charged with embezzlement, gun-running and ordering a contract murder.
Limonov was expelled from the Soviet Union in the 1970s and rose to prominence in the West after publishing the controversial book "It's Me ?€” Edik."
Belyak said Limonov's writings alone were not likely enough evidence to issue an arrest warrant.
Tishin said the party and Limonov personally cannot be held responsible for the actions of the party members, adding that he thought the arrest was an attempt to silence small radical factions.
"They left the party headless, which demonstrates that the process of party construction is under way in the country," he said, referring to the planned merger of the Unity and Fatherland parties. Other political parties could be next in line, he added.
NBP members who were with Limonov during his arrest recounted additional details Thursday about what happened when dozens of FSB officials stormed a house rented by Limonov.
"They broke in early in the morning when everybody was asleep and dragged us out by the hair and then forced us to undress and kneel," said Dmitry Bakhor, who spent several months in jail in 1999 after throwing eggs at filmmaker Nikita Mikhailkov.
Bakhor said that he, Limonov and the other NBP members spent 11 hours handcuffed in a cold shed while the agents searched the house. "They were punching us, demanding that we tell where we hid the weapons," Bakhor said.
Bakhor and five other party activists were released after a night in custody.