Russia threatens former chess champion Garry Kasparov with criminal charges

Former world chess champion Garry Kasparov, who fled Russia a decade ago for fear of persecution, may face a criminal case in Moscow for violating the Kremlin’s “foreign agent” law, state media reported on Sunday.

Russian law enforcement officials, the TASS news agency reported, said there is “every reason” to charge Kasparov, without providing further details. The democracy activist, a fierce critic of President Vladimir Putin, could face up to two years in prison or a fine if a case is initiated, the unnamed officials said.

Kasparov’s media office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In April, RadioFreeEurope reported in English based on reports in Russian media that a court in Russia’s Komi region had issued an arrest warrant for Kasparov on terrorism charges, a month after adding the former chess grandmaster to its list of terrorists and extremists.

“I am a terrorist in Russia; I have graduated from ‘foreign agent’ to ‘extremist,’ and now I am a ‘terrorist,” he confirmed in an interview with The Jerusalem Post published Sunday. “Many of my colleagues are [also called] ‘terrorists.'”In that interview, Kasparov suggested that Hamas’s October 7 attack, which triggered the ongoing war between Israel and the terror group, was “conveniently timed by Putin to divert attention from the war in Ukraine.”

Russia added Kasparov to its list of individuals acting as foreign agents, which includes dozens of critics of Vladimir Putin, soon after the Russian president launched his full-scale invasion on Ukraine in 2022.

According to the law, a foreign agent is a person who receives support from foreign states or is under foreign influence and is engaged in political activities in Russia.