Next week, the Kremlin opponent Navalny will have to answer in court again. In the worst case, he faces 30 years in a prison camp. He wanted more time to see his lengthy indictment. But the court in Moscow refused.
Even before the official start of a new trial against him, the already imprisoned opponent of the Kremlin, Alexei Navalny, suffered a defeat before Russia’s judiciary. A court in the capital Moscow rejected a complaint by Navalny, who had asked for more time to review the very extensive indictment.
According to the court, proceedings against Navalny for alleged “extremism” are to begin next Tuesday (June 6), for which he faces up to 30 years in a prison camp. The 46-year-old, who is internationally considered a political prisoner, is currently sentenced to nine years in prison. He has already served more than two.
Organization was classified as extremist
According to his spokeswoman Kira Jarmysch, the new trial will not be held in court, but directly in the penal camp about 260 kilometers northeast of Moscow. In total, the Russian judiciary has formulated seven counts of charges against Navalny, including founding and financing an extremist organization and downplaying Nazism. The Kremlin opponent rejects this.
Two years ago, the Moscow City Court, before which this trial is now to take place, already declared the anti-corruption fund (FBK) founded by Navalny to be extremist. The FBK has published a number of materials on corruption in Russia’s power apparatus up to President Vladimir Putin.
human rights groups speak of torture
Navalny, who is considered Putin’s best-known opponent, was poisoned with the nerve agent Novichok during a trip to Siberia in the summer of 2020. The opposition activist accuses the Russian domestic secret service FSB of being behind the poisoning. The Kremlin denies these allegations.
Most recently, Navalny’s team repeatedly drew attention to the inhumane conditions under which the politician is imprisoned. For example, he has been put in an isolation cell two by three meters almost continuously for months. International human rights groups also speak of torture.