Opposition politician Emilia Slabunova detained in Karelia over photo with Navalny
Opposition politician Emilia Slabunova, a member of the Karelian parliament from the Yabloko party, was detained in Petrozavodsk on April 21. According to Slabunova, the action was triggered by a denunciation.
“Today at 8 a.m., as I left my building, I was met by three police officers. They asked me to go to the station to give a statement regarding a certain post on my Telegram channel. Having reviewed the complaint at the station, I see it concerns a photo that is not on my channel. That says it all. I am at the station now. From here we will proceed to court,” she wrote on her Telegram channel.
According to the independent outlet 7x7, a report has been filed against the MP for allegedly displaying extremist symbols. The case is based on a 2020 post on her Telegram channel, in which Slabunova wished good health to opposition leader Aleksei Navalny. The post, now deleted, included a photograph of the two politicians together.
As 7x7 notes, a conviction under the relevant article can result in a one-year ban on standing for election. Elections to the Karelian Legislative Assembly are scheduled for September 2026.
Slabunova is one of Karelia’s most prominent opposition figures and has frequently criticised regional authorities. In 2023, she was fined for “discrediting” the Russian army after calling on officials to spend public funds on children rather than military operations. The complaint in that case was filed by Leonid Liminchuk, a representative of the ruling United Russia party.
