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Reuters

Jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny appeared before a Russian court on Monday to defend himself against new charges of extremism that could extend his prison term by decades.
The hearing took place at the IK-6 penal colony in Melekhovo, about 235km (145 miles) east of Moscow, where Navalny is already serving sentences totalling 11-1/2 years.
His supporters accuse Moscow of trying to break him to silence his criticism of President Vladimir Putin, something the Kremlin denies.
Journalists were not admitted to the courtroom, but were able to watch a video link from a room nearby, with barely intelligible audio.
Navalny, looking thin with cropped hair and dressed in a black prison uniform, could be seen seated at a desk, leafing through papers and conferring with one of his lawyers.
He then stood and spoke for three minutes, contesting the authority of the Moscow city court judge to try him in a penal colony far from the capital.
“Taking into account the current circumstances, and criminal law, you should withdraw,” he said.
Putin foe Navalny sentenced to nine years after fraud conviction
He also demanded that his parents be allowed inside the hearing, saying they had come to Melekhovo believing it would be an open session.
Soon afterwards, the court adjourned for a break.
Asked for comment on the case, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “We are not following this trial.”
An entry in the court record last month showed the new charges relate to six different articles of the criminal code, including inciting and financing extremist activity and creating an extremist organisation.
Russia has outlawed Navalny’s campaign organisation as part of a crackdown on dissent that started well before the conflict in Ukraine and has intensified in the nearly 16 months since it started. Last week one of his regional campaign leaders was jailed for 7-1/2 years.

In a tweet posted on his account by his supporters last month, Navalny responded with typical irony to the new charges.
“Well, Alexei, you’re in some real trouble now … The Prosecutor General’s Office has officially provided me with 3,828 pages describing all the crimes I’ve committed while already imprisoned.”
He said he had not been allowed to read the material to find out what exactly he was accused of because he was once again in solitary confinement and allowed only a mug and one book.
Navalny, 46, earned admiration from the disparate opposition for voluntarily returning to Russia in 2021 from Germany, where he had been treated for what Western laboratory tests showed was an attempt to poison him with a Soviet-era nerve agent.
The Kremlin denied trying to kill him and said there was no evidence he had been poisoned with such a toxin.
It was not immediately clear which specific actions or incidents the new charges referred to.


One relates to “rehabilitation of Nazism” – a possible reference to Navalny’s declarations of support for Ukraine, whose government Russia accuses of embodying Nazi ideology. Ukraine and its Western allies dismiss that charge as baseless.
In April, investigators formally linked Navalny supporters to the murder of Vladlen Tatarsky, a popular military blogger and supporter of Russia’s military campaign in Ukraine who was killed by a bomb in St Petersburg.
Russia’s National Anti-terrorism Committee (NAC) said Ukrainian intelligence had organised the bombing with help from Navalny’s supporters.
This appeared to be a reference to the fact that a suspect arrested over the killing once registered to take part in an anti-Kremlin voting scheme promoted by Navalny’s movement.
Navalny allies denied any connection to the killing. Ukraine attributed it to “domestic terrorism”.


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Russia

Russia’s Navalny defends himself in court against new extremism charges

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny with his lawyers, via video link during a preliminary hearing about 260km northeast of Moscow. Photo: AP 

Anatoly Navalny, father of Alexei Navalny, after watching a TV screen showing his son during a preliminary hearing of a new trial that could keep him behind bars for decades. Photo: AP 

Russia’s Alexei Navalny ill, may have been poisoned again, aide says

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny is seen on a screen via a video link from the IK-2 corrective penal colony in Pokrov in May 2022. Photo: Reuters

Supporters of Russia’s Alexei Navalny hold demonstrations on his 47th birthday

Navalny said in a social media post on Sunday that he sees his prison term ‘just as an unpleasant part of my favourite job’ and thanked his supporters. Photo: via AP

Russian activists residing in Georgia rally in support of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny on June 4, 2023, Alexei Navalny’s 47 birthday, in front of the former Russian embassy in Tbilisi. Photo: AFP

Navalny said in April that he was facing new extremism and terrorism charges that could keep him behind bars for life. Photo: via AP

Jailed Putin critic Alexei Navalny moved to high-security penal colony

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny appears from prison via video link at a courtroom in Vladimir, Russia on June 7. Photo: AP

Putin foe Navalny sentenced to nine years in prison after fraud conviction in ‘sham trial’

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny is seen via a video link during a court session in Russia on Tuesday. The Russian authorities are seeking a 13-year prison sentence for Navalny in a trial Kremlin critics see as an attempt to keep President Vladimir Putin’s most ardent foe in prison for as long as possible. Photo: AP

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny and lawyer Olga Mikhailova seen on a screen via a video link during his trial on Tuesday. Photo: AFP

Journalists watch a screen showing the off-site court session of Russian opposition leader and activist Alexei Navalny on Tuesday. Photo: EPA-EFE

A man holding a placard “Freedom for Navalny” is seen on the screen of a journalist’s smartphone during a court hearing for Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. Photo: Reuters

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny gestures a V for victory sign during a court hearing in 2021. Photo: AFP

Alexei Navalny vows to fight on, as he faces another decade in jail with new trial

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny (centre) is seen on a monitor screen during an offsite court session in the penal colony N2 (IK-2) in Pokrov, Russia on Tuesday. Photo: EPA-EFE

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny and his wife Yulia Navalnaya are seen embracing on a monitor screen during an off-site court session an the penal colony N2 (IK-2) in Pokrov, Russia on Tuesday. Photo: EPA-EFE

Prison guards are seen near the entrance to the IK-2 male correctional facility in Pokrov, where Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny serves his sentence. Photo: Reuters

News

World

Russia & Central Asia

Looking thin with cropped hair, he stood and spoke for 3 minutes, contesting the authority of the judge to try him in a penal colony far from the Moscow
Supporters of the jailed opposition leader accuse the Kremlin of trying to break him to silence his criticism of President Putin


Looking thin with cropped hair, he stood and spoke for 3 minutes, contesting the authority of the judge to try him in a penal colony far from the Moscow.


Vladimir Putin

Human rights

Espionage

Russia’s Navalny defends himself in court against new extremism charges

Looking thin with cropped hair, he stood and spoke for 3 minutes, contesting the authority of the judge to try him in a penal colony far from the Moscow Supporters of the jailed opposition leader accuse the Kremlin of trying to break him to silence his criticism of President Putin

Looking thin with cropped hair, he stood and spoke for 3 minutes, contesting the authority of the judge to try him in a penal colony far from the Moscow

Supporters of the jailed opposition leader accuse the Kremlin of trying to break him to silence his criticism of President Putin