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Moscow (dpa) - Regardless of international criticism, the Russian judiciary wants to put the Kremlin opponent Alexej Navalny in prison for years.

A court in the Russian capital Moscow ruled today on the application of the prison system to convert the probation sentence imposed in a trial in 2014 into a real prison sentence.

The Attorney General's Office supports this.

The chairwoman of the Bundestag human rights committee, Gyde Jensen, said that these were bogus allegations against Navalny, who "bore the signature of the Kremlin from the start," said Gyde Jensen.

The trial of President Vladimir Putin's most famous opponent is seen as a new attempt to muzzle the aggressive opposition.

"One thing is clear: this procedure has also been exposed as a political process in Russia, the protests will continue, regardless of the verdict," said the FDP politician.

Nawalny's supporters called for solidarity rallies at the courthouse and protests in the country.

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The politician barely survived an assassination attempt in Siberia in August with the internationally outlawed chemical agent Novichok.

The 44-year-old blames Putin and agents of the Russian domestic secret service FSB for the attack.

After his return to Russia, Navalny now sees the trial as the Kremlin's revenge for not dying.

Putin and the FSB had rejected these allegations.

When Navalny recovered from the attack in Germany, he is said not to have reported to the Russian authorities - as required in an earlier controversial criminal case.

The Russian penal system had put him out to be wanted and had him arrested on January 17th after landing in Moscow.

A multitude of other lawsuits threaten him.

The procedure had caused international horror.

The federal government has repeatedly called for Navalny to be released.

Federal Justice Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD) said the European Court of Human Rights had judged the criminal proceedings against Navalny at the time as “grossly arbitrary”.

"Instead of pursuing, suppressing and criminalizing Navalny and his supporters, criminal investigations must finally begin to clear up the poison attack on him," she demanded.

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Russia refuses to investigate because it sees no evidence of poisoning.

Several western laboratories, including one from the Bundeswehr, had proven the Novitschok traces beyond any doubt.

The EU has therefore imposed sanctions on high-ranking Russian officials.

In view of the threat of long-term imprisonment, Nawalny's team has called on the EU and the USA not to stand idly by the arbitrariness of the judiciary in Russia - and to impose further sanctions.

This is already being discussed at EU level.

Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde is expected to meet her Russian colleague Sergei Lavrov in Moscow this Tuesday.

She currently also chairs the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).

At the end of the week, Lavrov will meet in Moscow with the EU foreign affairs representative Josep Borrell, who had sharply condemned the crackdown on Navalny and dissenters on several occasions.

Russia refuses to interfere in its internal affairs.

© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210202-99-262677 / 2