Yevgenia Albats: to be charged with ‘disobeying police’. BBC Photo

The editor-in-chief of Russia’s top opposition magazine, The New Times, has been accused of disobeying traffic police in Moscow and faces up to 15 days in jail.

Writing on Twitter, Yevgenia Albats said a court would convene to hear her case on Monday.

“Over what?” she said in a tweet late Saturday. “Over nothing.”

Reached by AFP on Sunday, Albats declined comment.

She said earlier that several traffic police had stopped her car on a busy Moscow street on Saturday and requested to see her identification.

She said she had complied but had nevertheless been accused of disobeying police.

“I have not violated a single law,” Albats said on the popular Echo of Moscow radio. She indicated her case may be politically motivated but declined to elaborate.

Albats would be represented in court by her lawyer, she said.

Disobeying police or other representatives of the Russian authorities is punishable by a small fine or up to 15 days in jail.

With a relatively small print run, the weekly magazine known for its searing covers and uncompromising anti-Kremlin stance, punches above its weight.

Along with the opposition newspaper Novaya Gazeta and Echo of Moscow radio station, the magazine has served as a safety valve of sorts, giving Kremlin critics a platform to air their views.