Imprisoned Russian opposition chief Alexei Navalny is because of hear the decision in his newest trial on extremism costs
FILE – Russian opposition chief Alexei Navalny appears at photographers from behind a glass cage within the Babuskinsky District Court docket in Moscow, Russia, on Feb. 20, 2021. Navalny as a consequence of hear the decision Friday Aug. 4, 2023 in his newest trial on extremism costs. The prosecution has demanded a 20-year jail sentence, and the politician himself stated he expects a prolonged jail time period. (AP Picture/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)
The Related Press
MOSCOW — Imprisoned Russian opposition chief Alexei Navalny as a consequence of hear the decision Friday in his newest trial on extremism costs.
The prosecution has demanded a 20-year jail sentence, and the politician himself stated he expects a prolonged jail time period.
Navalny is already serving a nine-year sentence for fraud and contempt of court docket in a penal colony east of Moscow. In 2021, he was additionally sentenced to 2 1/2 years in jail for a parole violation. The most recent trial towards Navalny has been happening behind closed doorways within the colony the place he’s imprisoned.
If the court docket finds Navalny responsible, it will likely be his fifth legal conviction, all of which have been extensively seen as a deliberate technique by the Kremlin to silence its most ardent opponent.
Navalny, 47, is President Vladimir Putin’s fiercest foe who uncovered official corruption and arranged main anti-Kremlin protests. He was arrested in January 2021 upon returning to Moscow after recuperating in Germany from nerve agent poisoning that he blamed on the Kremlin.
The brand new costs relate to the actions of Navalny’s anti-corruption basis and statements by his prime associates. His allies stated the fees retroactively criminalize all the muse’s actions since its creation in 2011.
Navalny has rejected all the fees towards him as politically motivated and has accused the Kremlin of looking for to maintain him behind bars for all times.
On the eve of the decision listening to, Navalny — presumably via his workforce — launched a press release on social media by which he stated he anticipated his sentence to be “big… a Stalinist time period,” referring to the Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin.
Within the publish, Navalny known as on Russians to “personally” resist and inspired them to help political prisoners, distribute flyers or go to a rally. He informed Russians that they may select a secure approach to withstand however added “there may be disgrace in doing nothing. It’s shameful to let your self be intimidated.”