Russia’s state financial watchdog Rosfinmonitoring has added jailed leftist activist Sergei Udaltsov to its list of “extremists and terrorists.”
Udaltsov was placed in pre-trial detention last month on accusations of justifying terrorism in social media posts.
He faces up to seven years in prison if found guilty.
Being added to Russia's registry of “extremists and terrorists” allows the authorities to freeze designees' bank accounts.
Udaltsov has said he was charged over social media posts he made about a group of Marxists who were arrested in the city of Ufa on terrorism offenses.
“The investigation’s charges are nonsense,” Udaltsov said in court in January.
“The guys from Ufa who were arrested for alleged terrorism were members of a Marxist circle, and the investigation is treating Marxism as terrorism,” he added.
Udaltsov, who heads the socialist group Left Front, has been a vocal participant in anti-Kremlin demonstrations dating back to mass rallies held in 2012.
Udaltsov was previously sentenced to a prison term in 2014 for organizing protests that resulted in clashes with police on the eve of President Vladimir Putin’s 2012 inauguration. He was released in August 2017.
