Garry Kasparov Fears Arrest On Russian Return
The chess champion is worried about being arrested as protesters face court in a case critics liken to the Soviet-era show trials.
Thursday 6 June 2013 09:20, UK
Chess legend Garry Kasparov says he is staying out of Russia, as 12 protesters face long prison terms over anti-Putin demonstrations.
The former world chess champion has in recent years become an impassioned campaigner against the rule of President Vladimir Putin and took part in some of the mass opposition street protests against his rule.
He was arrested last year for protesting outside the court when .
Kasparov now says he fears he could be investigated as part of a crackdown on the opposition if he returns home.
"I kept travelling back and forth until late February when it became clear that I might be part of this ongoing investigation of the activities of the political protesters," Mr Kasparov said in Geneva on Wednesday, according to an audio recording posted on his website.
"Right now, I have serious doubts that if I return to Moscow I may not be able to travel back. So for the time being I refrain from returning to Russia."
The chess champion's concerns come as the 12 Russians have appeared at a pre-trial hearing in Moscow, accused of violence at a rally on the eve of Mr Putin's inauguration last year.
Ten defendants are taking part in the hearing from inside a glass-walled cage known as an "aquarium" while two more, who are not under arrest, are seated on a bench.
The pre-trial hearing in the 'Bolotnaya case', named for the Moscow square where the violence broke out on May 6, 2012, opens a new page in what his foes say is a determined clampdown on dissent.
Kremlin critics are likening the case to the Soviet-era show trials of dissidents.
Mr Putin has signed laws activists say restrict freedoms, civic groups are under pressure from prosecutors and prominent opposition leader Alexei Navalny in a trial he says is politically motivated.
The Bolotnaya defendants could face similar fates.
Charged with "mass disorder", violence against police, or both, some could be imprisoned for eight years if convicted.
The rally followed peaceful protests which erupted in December 2011, fuelled by claims of electoral fraud and dismay over Mr Putin's decision to return to the presidency until at least 2018 after a stint as prime minister.
The pre-trial hearing comes before a planned protest march on June 12 on a route ending at Bolotnaya Square.
Human Rights Watch has accused Mr Putin of presiding over the harshest crackdown on civil society in Russia's post-soviet history since his return to the Kremlin last year.
They note the ongoing raids on non-governmental organisations (NGOs) across the country, the series of new laws being passed, and the intimidation, harassment and in a number of cases imprisonment of political activists.
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