Russian Activist Mikhail Khodorkovsky Says Kremlin Trying to 'Sanitize' Politics Ahead of Elections

Dissidents in Russia are under increasing pressure and scrutiny leading up to a key parliamentary election in September in what Kremlin critics are calling an attempt to take opponents out of the equation, the Associated Press reported.

A Russian tycoon who relocated to London after a 10-year sentence in a Russian prison, a punishment seen as retaliation for criticizing President Vladimir Putin, told AP that the latest actions against Kremlin opposition are telling of its concern over the viability of the Kremlin-controlled United Russia party.

The ex-pat, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, told AP that the pending election is a "theatrical performance, in which any candidates that the government isn't happy with will simply not be allowed to run."

He said that the authorities are increasing repression to stifle any critical voices before the September 19 parliamentary election, including activists of the Open Russia movement that he financed.

For more reporting from the Associated Press, see below.

Andrei Pivovarov, the head of Open Russia that dissolved itself last week, was pulled off a Warsaw-bound plane at St. Petersburg's airport just before takeoff late Monday. He was being taken to Krasnodar in southern Russia on Tuesday as part of a criminal probe against him.

Also on Tuesday, police raided the country home of opposition politician Dmitry Gudkov, a former lawmaker who has aspired to run for parliament. At least two of his associates also had their homes searched.

Khodorkovsky said the authorities are taking preemptive action against the opposition, fearing that the September election could trigger protests.

"The government is afraid of potential protests that could emerge if they cheat too flagrantly," Khodorkovsky told AP. "They are trying to sanitize the political environment before the election."

He added that he would continue to support opposition candidates despite the official pressure.

Last week, Pivovarov announced that Open Russia was shutting down to protect its members from prosecution after Russian authorities designated it as "undesirable." The government already has outlawed more than 30 groups using a 2015 law that made membership in "undesirable" organizations a criminal offense. Another bill now making its way through parliament increases the punishment for members of those groups.

In a letter from custody that his lawyers posted Tuesday on Pivovarov's Instagram account, he said "there is no cause for joy, but I don't feel despondent."

He added: "There is a plan to put any people with a different view under arrest, but such people already are the majority."

His lawyers said the charges against Pivovarov for assisting an "undesirable" organization were filed after he declared its closure.

Amnesty International, meanwhile, strongly condemned Pivovarov's arrest and demanded his release.

"This is an audacious move by the Kremlin in its continued use of the law on 'undesirable' organizations to target and shut down critics," said Natalia Zviagina, the director of the group's Moscow office. "The Russian authorities must end reprisals against their political opponents and other critical voices in the country."

In March, police briefly detained about 200 participants of a forum of municipal council members that Open Russia helped organize.

Putin's most determined political foe, Alexei Navalny, was arrested in January upon his return from Germany, where he had spent five months recovering from a nerve agent poisoning that he blames on the Kremlin—accusations that Russian officials reject. He was handed a 2 1/2-year prison sentence in February for violating terms of a suspended sentence stemming from a 2014 embezzlement conviction that he denounced as politically driven.

With Navalny in prison, prosecutors have asked a Moscow court to designate his Foundation for Fighting Corruption and his network of regional offices as extremist groups. In a parallel move, a bill approved by the lower house of the Russian parliament bars members, donors and supporters of extremist groups from seeking public office—a measure that would keep Navalny's associates from running for parliament in September.