MELEKHOVO, Russia — Imprisoned Russian opposition chief Alexei Navalny went on trial Monday on new prices of extremism that might maintain him behind bars for many years.
The trial opened at a most safety penal colony in Melekhovo, 250 kilometers (150 miles) east of Moscow, the place Navalny, 47, is serving a nine-year sentence for fraud and contempt of court docket — prices he says are politically motivated. Quickly after it started, the decide dominated to shut the trial regardless of Navalny’s name to maintain it open.
Navalny, who uncovered official corruption and arranged main anti-Kremlin protests, was arrested in January 2021 upon returning to Moscow after recuperating in Germany from nerve agent poisoning that he blamed on the Kremlin.
Carrying his jail garb, Navalny regarded gaunt on the session however spoke emphatically concerning the weak spot of the state’s case and gestured energetically.
Navalny has mentioned the brand new extremism prices, which he rejected as “absurd,” might maintain him in jail for one more 30 years. He mentioned an investigator instructed him that he would additionally face a separate army trial on terrorism prices that might doubtlessly carry a life sentence.
Monday’s trial got here amid a sweeping Russian crackdown on dissent amid the preventing in Ukraine, which Navalny has harshly criticized.
The Moscow Metropolis Courtroom, which opened the listening to at Penal Colony No. 6, didn’t permit reporters within the courtroom and so they watched the proceedings by way of video feed from a separate constructing. Navalny’s dad and mom additionally have been denied entry to the court docket and adopted the listening to remotely.
Navalny and his legal professionals urged the decide to carry an open trial, arguing that authorities are wanting to suppress particulars of the proceedings to cowl up the weak spot of the case.
“The investigators, the prosecutors and the authorities typically don’t need the general public to know concerning the trial,” Navalny mentioned.
Prosecutor Nadezhda Tikhonova requested the decide to conduct the trial behind closed doorways, citing safety considerations. The decide agreed and reporters have been requested to go away the premises.
The brand new prices relate to the actions of Navalny’s anti-corruption basis and statements by his high associates. His allies mentioned the costs retroactively criminalize all of the actions of Navalny’s basis since its creation in 2011.
One in all Navalny’s associates, Daniel Kholodny, was relocated from a distinct jail to face trial alongside him.
Navalny has spent months in a tiny one-person cell, additionally referred to as a “punishment cell,” for purported disciplinary violations reminiscent of an alleged failure to correctly button his jail garments, correctly introduce himself to a guard or to clean his face at a specified time.
Navalny’s associates and supporters have accused jail authorities of failing to supply him with correct medical help and voiced concern about his well being.
As Navalny’s trial opened, the Prosecutor Basic’s workplace declared the Bulgaria-based Agora human rights group to be an “undesirable” group. It mentioned the group poses a “menace to the constitutional order and nationwide safety” by alleging human rights violations and providing authorized help to members of the opposition motion.
Russian authorities have banned dozens of home and overseas nongovernmental organizations on comparable grounds.
In Berlin, the German authorities criticized the trial of Navalny and reiterated its name for his fast launch.
“In case of of the opposition politician Alexei Navalny, the Russian authorities maintain searching for new excuses to increase his imprisonment,” authorities spokesman Wolfgang Buechner instructed reporters.
“The German authorities continues to demand of the Russian authorities that they launch Navalny immediately,” he added. “Navalny’s imprisonment is predicated on a politically motivated verdict, because the European Courtroom of Human Rights concluded again in 2017.”
Requested whether or not Germany might present any help to Navalny or observe the trial, International Ministry spokesman Christian Wagner mentioned German officers have been doing what they might “on the few channels that we’ve got,” however acknowledged it was “very troublesome for the time being” given the present state of relations with Russia.
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Related Press author Frank Jordans in Berlin contributed.