MOSCOW, November 26 (RIA Novosti) – An opposition-minded blogger in western Siberia found a multimillion overdraft in his banking account after landing on a state-run asset blacklist for alleged extremists.
Kemerovo-based blogger Stanislav Kalinichenko was charged earlier this month with promoting extremism, punishable with up to three years in prison.
The case was opened due to his alleged retweeting in May a call to destroy property of supposedly corrupt Russian officials.
On Monday, he found his name among the 2,754 individuals whose assets were frozen by the Federal Financial Monitoring Service over allegations of extremism or terrorism, Kalinichenko said.
He also found a gaping 42 million ruble ($1.3 million) hole in his account in the state-run Sberbank instead of the 18,000 rubles ($545) he had there, Kalinichenko told RIA Novosti on Tuesday.
A bank clerk said the card was blocked by the order of Federal Financial Monitoring Service.
The state agency did not return a request for comment in time for publication.
Kalinichenko said the debt was apparently a technical means of blocking the account.
He called the charges fabricated in retribution for his oppositional activity.
Since the start of this month, Russian law enforcement services are legally allowed to freeze assets of suspects in extremism and terrorism cases without a trial.
