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Alexei Navalny: The Kremlin opponent faces another 30 years in prison
Photo: Alexander Zemlianichenko / picture alliance / dpa / AP
Kremlin opponent Alexei Navalny has suffered a defeat before Russia's judiciary. Even before the official start of a new trial against him, he failed with a request that would have enabled him to better prepare for the trial.
A court in the capital Moscow on Wednesday rejected a complaint by Navalny, who had asked for more time to sift through the very extensive indictment. According to the court, Navalny's trial for alleged "extremism" is scheduled to begin next Tuesday (6 June), for which he could face 30 years in prison in the worst case. Currently, the 46-year-old, who is internationally considered a political prisoner, is sentenced to nine years in prison. He has already served more than two.
In total, the Russian judiciary has formulated seven charges against Navalny, including founding and financing an extremist organization and trivializing Nazism. The Kremlin opponent rejects this. Two years ago, the Moscow City Court, before which this trial is now also 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.
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 oppositionist accuses the Russian domestic intelligence service FSB of being behind the poisoning. The Kremlin rejects the 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 a two-by-three-meter isolation cell for months almost continuously. International human rights activists also speak of torture.
asc/dpa