MOSCOW. Aug 17 (Interfax) - A co-chairperson of the Golos movement, designated in Russia as a foreign agent, has been detained and interviewed as a suspect in a criminal case opened into the activities of an organization declared undesirable, his lawyer Mikhail Biryukov told Interfax on Thursday.
"Grigory Melkonyants has been questioned as a suspect. We are now awaiting further decisions from an investigator - whether charges will be brought or some restraining measure will be imposed. There is currently no information," Biryukov said.
Melkonyants was questioned on suspicion of arranging the operations of an organization designated as undesirable in Russia, the lawyer said.
Melkonyants denies any wrongdoing, Biryukov said. The entity in question is a foreign organization with which Golos stopped cooperating after it was declared undesirable, he said.
Interfax does not yet have investigators' comments on the situation.
The Golos voter rights advocacy group is an independent vote-monitoring movement of Russian citizens. It was founded in 2000 and was designated as a foreign agent in 2013.