Anti-war politician Boris Nadezhdin was briefly detained north of Moscow on Monday and charged with displaying “extremist” symbols, just days after Russia’s Justice Ministry designated him a “foreign agent.”
In a brief message on his Telegram channel, Nadezhdin wrote that he was being taken to a police station in the town of Dolgoprudny, located around 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the Russian capital.
After his release later that evening, Nadezhdin revealed that police charged him with the administrative offense of displaying “extremist” symbols for sharing a link to a video that contained an image of the late opposition activist Alexei Navalny.
He is scheduled to appear in court on Friday so that a judge can formally read the charge, which carries a maximum sentence of 15 days in prison.
Nadezhdin is currently trying to run for office in the State Duma elections this September. Dolgoprudny, his hometown, is among the places where his campaign team has been collecting signatures to help him qualify for the ballot.
