Prominent lawyer leaves Russia citing government pressure

By DARIA LITVINOVA
Associated Press

MOSCOW (AP) — A prominent lawyer who represented both a former Russian journalist accused of treason and the team of imprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny has left Russia after authorities launched a criminal probe against him. A rights group he headed has also shut down under government pressure. In a statement posted Tuesday on the Telergram messaging app, Ivan Pavlov said has left for Georgia and said restrictions imposed on him as a suspect in a criminal probe made it impossible for him to continue working as a lawyer. In April, Russian authorities charged Pavlov with disclosing information related to a police investigation into his defense of a former Russian journalist charged with treason. That case that has been widely seen as retribution for his journalistic work.