Fyodor Gorozhanko, a witness for the prosecution in a new criminal case against politician Alexei Navalny, left Russia. He himself told the Mediazone about this.
“[I decided to leave] so as not to aggravate my situation. I understand that I have the prospect of getting into some kind of criminal case and for the activities of FBK, and for blaming investigators in court. I think that the levers of pressure on me have only increased, so it would be stupid to give them the opportunity to use them, so I left for now. There are no further plans and there weren’t, it happens quite spontaneously in general, I’ll think about what to do next, I’ll see how the situation develops further,” Gorozhanko said.
The former FBK employee was supposed to testify as a prosecution witness in cases of contempt of courtduring the consideration of the case of libel against veteran Ignat Artemenko a year ago and about fraud when collecting donations for anti-corruption activities of FBK.
At the meeting, Gorozhanko called the criminal case against Navalny absurd and complained about the pressure of the investigation during interrogations. “Despite the fact that I am a witness for the prosecution, I act as a witness for the defense. I believe that Navalny acted in accordance with the current legislation,” he said in court.
At FBK, Gorozhanko was engaged in mailing lists and, after his dismissal, he had a secret API key with which he gained access to base, asserted in FBK. In 2021, former colleagues accused him of being involved in publishing the email addresses of people who agreed to attend a rally in support of Alexei Navalny.
The politician’s associates claimed that in April 2021, Gorozhanko deposited more than a million rubles into a bank account, while he had problems with money and collectors. Gorozhanko denied the allegations.
“What is the point of being afraid and being silent? It makes no sense.» Fedor Gorozhanko on why he refused to testify against Navalny in court
Updated at 17:15. Gorozhanko's comment added.