A member of the federal bureau of the Yabloko party was detained in an extortion case

Konstantin Smirnov, a member of the federal bureau of the Yabloko party and editor-in-chief of the Ryazan edition of Vid Sidku, was detained in Moscow as part of a criminal case of extortion. This was reported by the source of "Izvestiya" on January 31.

In addition, the Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee of Russia (ICRF) in Ryazan Region reported about the initiation of a criminal case against the director of the local online publication, who is also a deputy of the council of deputies of one of the districts of the region. He is charged with extortion committed by a group of persons by prior conspiracy on a large scale, but the name of the suspect is not disclosed.

According to the agency, the figure conspired with his acquaintance, who previously worked as a journalist, and in 2024 published several articles with compromising information about the interim CEO of a specialized commercial organization.

During a personal meeting, they demanded money from the victim for stopping the publications. As a result, he handed them 300 thousand rubles. The suspects were detained by the FSB officers.

Earlier, on January 24, law enforcers detained members of an organized criminal group (OCG) on suspicion of kidnapping military officers and extorting businessmen in the region under various pretexts. One of the methods of their activities was the resolution of civil disputes between suppliers and contractors with the use of force. A criminal case was opened under part 2 of article 126 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ("Kidnapping") and part 3 of article 163 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ("Extortion") against the organizer of the OCG and ten of its members.