Alexei Navalny, the Russian opposition figurehead, has been summoned for questioning by investigators over allegations that he hit a police officer during a protest rally.
Navalny, a 41-year-old anti-corruption lawyer, said on Twitter that police officers delivered the summons to his apartment in southern Moscow at 7.30am on Monday. He said he was accused of assaulting the officer while being detained at a protest near Red Square on 28 January.
Video footage of Navalny’s arrest at the rally shows him being wrestled to the ground before being pushed into a police truck amid clashes between security forces and protesters. He was released without charge that evening, but later said he expected to be rearrested before the presidential election due on 18 March.
Investigators confirmed that Navalny had been summoned in connection with an inquiry into “physical injuries” sustained by an officer during the opposition rally. More than 300 people were detained nationwide during protests that day.
Navalny is barred from Russia’s presidential election over a fraud conviction that he says was trumped up to prevent him challenging President Vladimir Putin at the ballot box. He has called for a boycott of what he says are rigged elections that are all but certain to result in a new six-year term of office for Putin.
Two of Navalny’s supporters were handed brief jail sentences last week on charges of urging people to attend unsanctioned opposition rallies. Ruslan Shaveddinov and Kira Yarmysh had travelled abroad to carry out a live online broadcast of last month’s protests and were detained by police when they returned to Moscow.
