A St. Petersburg professor faces up to two years in jail over his ties to the banned National Bolshevik Party, RIA-Novosti reported Monday.
Andrei Pesotsky, who teaches at the St. Petersburg State University of Economics and Finances, is accused of creating a local branch of the party in 2009, the report said, citing the Investigative Committee. The National Bolshevik Party was banned for extremism in 2007.
Eight other people are charged with being members in the group, including Andrei Dmitriyev, an unemployed local resident also accused of co-organizing the St. Petersburg branch.
The suspects held regular meetings, collected membership fees and participated in illegal events staged by the group, the report said.
The branch ended activity in October, the investigators said, without elaborating.
Pesotsky and Dmitriyev have not been detained but face charges of organizing an extremist group. They have not commented on the case.
The National Bolshevik Party, which offered a mix of ultranationalist and leftist views, was the brainchild of Eduard Limonov, who is now leader of the unregistered Other Russia coalition.
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