(17 Oct 2012) SHOTLIST
1. Wide of Sergei Udaltsov, Left Front leader and opposition activist, leaving his home where a police search is underway
2. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Sergei Udaltsov, Left Front leader and opposition activist:
"I will hold on until the end. Don't be silent, that's the most important thing, don't be silent. It is a new wave of repression, it is precisely a new wave of repression. It's illegal, it's the revenge of the government for our activism. I ask all citizens not to be silent, but rather to be angered by this."
3. Wide of Udaltsov getting into a vehcile waiting to take him to the Investigative Committee for questioning
4. Mid of vehicle
5. Wide of Udaltsov's apartment building where search police search is ongoing
6. Mid of vehicle driving away
STORYLINE
In a new sign of a widening crackdown on Russia's opposition, investigators on Wednesday opened a criminal probe against leftist leader Sergei Udaltsov and several other activists for allegedly plotting mass riots.
The Investigative Committee said in a statement it will investigate claims made in a recent documentary aired by a Kremlin-friendly TV channel that opposition leaders worked with Georgian officials to overthrow the government.
But Udaltsov is not officially suspected of that more serious charge.
Investigators, backed by armed men wearing ski masks, searched Udaltsov's apartment in south Moscow for more than five hours on Wednesday.
"I will hold on until the end. Don't be silent, that's the most important thing, don't be silent," said Udaltsov, as he was escorted by police from his apartment to a vehicle waiting to take him to the Investigative Committee for questioning.
"It is a new wave of repression, it is precisely a new wave of repression. It's illegal, it's the revenge of the government for our activism," he continued.
"I ask all citizens not to be silent, but rather to be angered by this."
A documentary aired last week on NTV, a channel seen as a propaganda arm of the Kremlin, showed what it says was footage of the Left Front leader meeting with officials from neighbouring Georgia to discuss raising 200 million (m) US dollars for protests against President Vladimir Putin, and plans for organising riots in Moscow.
The Investigative Committee said that it would pursue criminal cases against not only Russians, but also citizens of Georgia and other unspecified people.
Udaltsov said he has met "a great number of people" recently to discuss fundraising, but all of his efforts and intentions are legal.
He has insisted the footage presented in the documentary has been doctored.
The Russian Communist Party, which forms the largest opposition faction in parliament, has supported Udaltsov, dismissing allegations against him as nonsense.
Party leader Gennady Zyuganov said Udaltsov is being persecuted for his views.
Udaltsov, a 35-year-old, shaven-headed Communist who wore a Stalin T-shirt for his wedding, has been one of the most recognisable faces of last winter's anti-government protests in Moscow, which were legal and peaceful.
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