Russia suspends activities of Kremlin critic Navalny's regional groups

The extremism allegation is being used purely as a pretext for political repression," Volkov said. The prosecutor has accused Navalny's groups of plotting to destabilize the political situation and working to promote a popular revolution.

Moscow prosecutors on Monday ordered jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation and its regional offshoots to stop their activities pending a request to outlaw them as "extremist", representatives for the group said.

A positive court ruling would give authorities the legal power to hand down jail terms to activists and freeze the groups' bank accounts, essentially forcing them to stop campaigning for Russia's highest-profile opposition figure. At a preliminary hearing on Monday, prosecutors asked the court to prohibit the groups from taking part in elections, organizing protests, or publishing anything online, said Leonid Volkov, an associate of Navalny's.

The hearings are being held behind closed doors as authorities have classified some of the case details, said lawyer Ivan Pavlov, whose legal team is handling the case. "We all understand perfectly that there is no extremism in (our) work ... The extremism allegation is being used purely as a pretext for political repression," Volkov said.

The prosecutor has accused Navalny's groups of plotting to destabilize the political situation and working to promote a popular revolution.