Once again, the harshest critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin has to face a trial. Critics see the trial against Alexei Navalny as a political staging.
In the new controversial trial against the imprisoned Kremlin opponent Alexei Navalny, the public prosecutor’s office has requested 13 years in prison.
Prosecutor Nadezhda Tikhonova also called for a fine of 1.2 million rubles (9,000 euros) to be imposed in the case of alleged fraud, which was criticized as a political staging. The verdict is to be announced on March 22nd.
Navalny’s team spoke of new evidence of the arbitrariness of the judiciary in Russia. “We said that Putin wants to keep Navalny in prison forever,” said opposition spokeswoman Kira Jarmysh. Navalny is the harshest critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Navalny used his concluding remarks, which according to Jarmysch could not be heard during the broadcast due to technical glitches, to criticize Putin’s war against Ukraine. «Fighting against war means fighting against despotism. (…) That means fighting Putin,” said Navalny. “Now we understand that there are not only bad, greedy and stupid people in power, but also crazy people.”
This time Navalny has to answer for alleged misappropriation of funds for his now banned anti-corruption foundation and for insulting a judge. According to his team, Navalny faces up to 15 years in prison. The court refused to move the trial to the Russian capital Moscow, which is around 100 kilometers away. The client of the procedure was afraid that everyone would then be able to see that the accusation was fabricated, said the 45-year-old in court. However, several journalists found themselves in the penal camp in Pokrov in the Vladimir region, as the Kremlin-critical newspaper “Novaya Gazeta” reported.
Jarmysch said that Putin was taking revenge on Navalny with the procedure “after he failed to kill him”. The Kremlin opponent barely survived an assassination attempt with the chemical warfare agent Novichok in August 2020. The President denied involvement. The EU had imposed sanctions on Russia for the attack.
Navalny returned to Russia a year ago after recovering in Germany, where Merkel had visited him at the Charité in Berlin. He was arrested on January 17, 2021 at Moscow Airport for allegedly violating conditions in another criminal case during his recovery.
Source: Stern
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