Putin’s biggest opponent Navalny faces more in jail in a new fraud trial; “Coward Russian govt”. says wife
A Russian court has started a fresh trial against Russian opponent Alexei Navalny, who was previously imprisoned for a year on fraud accusations and now faces new charges that may double his term to ten years.
Navalny is Putin’s biggest opponent, and his movement has been suppressed by Russian authorities, who have banned him and begun legal actions against him.
Navalny, who survived a poisoning attempt in 2020, made an appearance on Tuesday disguised as a prisoner with a shaved head as part of this new process.
The hearing is transpiring in a chamber in the prison on the outskirts of Moscow where he is spending his sentence, with his lawyers present and many guards present.
“I have not yet been found guilty, but I am dressed like a prisoner (…)” “It’s so that if a grandmother sees me on TV, she automatically assumes I’m already in prison,” Navalny retorted.
“I want to be tried like any other zek!” he exclaimed, referring to Soviet gulag inmates.
The activist’s wife blasted the Russian government’s “cowardice” and called the procedure “illegal” and the charges “dishonest” on Monday.
During the process, the opponent used a technical stoppage caused by a sound problem to hug his wife Yulia, who was present in the room.
In mid-2020, the campaigner was poisoned in Siberia and spent months in Germany healing. Navalny accuses Russian President Vladimir Putin of drunkenness, which has yet to be probed in his nation, despite the fact that authorities claim there is no evidence and Germany refuses to provide medical tests.
In January 2021, the opponent was detained upon his return to Russia and prosecuted and convicted for a “fraud” case dating back to 2014. This conviction prompted a barrage of criticism and penalties against Moscow from Western countries. Navalny was added to an official list of “terrorists and extremists” as part of a crackdown on dissident voices that also affected his primary collaborators, who have been banished.
