London, Oct. 25 (ANI): Russia has been accused of abducting a dissident from Ukraine, according to a report.
Leonid Razvozzhayev, a 39-year-old anti-Putin activist and aide to an opposition MP, was abducted from Ukraine just a day after he flew down there, and was put under a criminal investigation, for allegedly organising a mass unrest. He could face a 10-year jail sentence.
Razvozzhayev's alleged abduction comes as the latest tale to emerge from the Kremlin's attempt to put down the opposition that emerged to challenge Putin's return to power earlier this year, The Guardian reports.
According to the paper, Razvozzhayev, who reached Ukraine on October 15, is suspected of plotting mass unrest and terrorist attacks in Russia, investigators said, citing a propaganda report on state-run television that claimed to show the men plotting revolution.
Fearing the worst if he were to return to Russia, Razvozzhayev, an aide to outspoken parliamentary deputy Ilya Ponomaryov, decided to seek political asylum and approached the United Nations high commissioner for refugees (UNHCR) on 19 October. He then went out for sandwich after which he never came back, the paper said.
Razvozzhayev said four men were waiting for him at the exit.
"They threw me in a minivan. They put a tight black hat on me, so I couldn't see anything, and tied my arms and legs up with tape. And we were off," Razvozzhayev said.
"For two days they didn't let me go to the toilet. I didn't eat, I didn't drink the whole time. They told me: if you don't answer our questions, then your children will be killed. I agreed to say what they wanted," he added. He was then taken to the headquarters of the investigative committee in Moscow, a body akin to the FBI.
While the committee issued a statement saying Razvozzhayev had wilfully turned himself in, they denied all claims of torture, the paper said. Investigations are still going on. (ANI)
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