You're reading: Opposition socialite says Russian court refuses to return cash

MOSCOW - Russian socialite and Kremlin critic Ksenia Sobchak said on Thursday, July 26, a Moscow court had refused to return some 1.5 million euros ($1.82 million) confiscated during a raid on her apartment ahead of a June protest against Vladimir Putin's rule.

Police searched Sobchak’s apartment and the flats of other
protest leaders, rifling through personal belongings for hours
the day before the first big protest against Putin’s return to
the presidency for a six-year term since his May 7 inauguration.

While going through the belongings of the 30-year old
television celebrity and restaurateur, police confiscated
approximately 1.5 million euros worth of various currencies
which she kept in cash in paper envelopes, she said.

“The court’s decision: refusing to return the money,”
Sobchak said on Twitter, adding the court justified its decision
with concern that she may use the money to finance future “mass
riots”.

Sobchak said she would file a complaint about the court’s
decision.

The opposition searches have drawn comparisons to Soviet-era
heavy-handed tactics against dissidents and signalled Putin, a
former KGB spy, may be running out of patience after a winter of
protests to his 12-year rule over Russia.

Though the protests were mainly confined to major cities and
have lost steam since then over the summer lull, Russia has
lately approved a series of new laws that human rights groups
say may serve to quell the protest movement.

Under the new laws, all non-governmental organisations
(NGOs) receiving funding from abroad must register as “foreign
agents” – a term echoing the Cold War era rhetoric – while
Russia will also see stricter defamation laws.

Another new legislation has also tightened control over the
Internet, with anti-Kremlin campaigners saying officials could
now shut down web sites deemed inappropriate without any court
orders – a major concern for the opposition mainly organised via
social networking sites.

The Russian parliament, controlled by Putin’s United Russia
party, rushed the laws through in accelerated procedures despite
criticism from the United States and other countries.

On Thursday police also detained two more anti-Kremlin
activists as part of investigation into a May 6 protest that
turned violent the day before Putin’s inauguration.