Jailed Putin foe Alexei Navalny says he will likely languish behind bars until 2050 on ‘absurd’ charges
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has made a rare appearance as he faces new charges of extremism and terrorism.
The Kremlin’s chief critic, who appeared at the hearing via video link from prison, said the “absurd” charges could land him in jail until 2050.
He also noted that the terrorism charges implied that he “committed terror attacks while in prison.”
He told the hearing: “They have made absurd charges against me, according to which I can get up to 35 years.”
A close ally said investigators were trying to link the terrorism charges against Navalny to a bomb attack that killed a well-known Russian military blogger earlier this month.
Imprisoned Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny is seen on a screen via video link from his penal colony
Navalny, 46, who denounced bureaucratic corruption and organized mass protests against the Kremlin, was the victim of a nerve poisoning he blamed on Putin’s accomplices.
He was arrested in January 2021 after returning to Moscow from Germany where he was recovering.
He was initially sentenced to two and a half years in prison for violating parole.
But last year he was sentenced to nine years for fraud and contempt of court.
He is currently held in a maximum security prison 250 kilometers east of Moscow.
While imprisoned, Mr Navalny spent months in a small one-person cell, known as a ‘punishment cell’, for alleged disciplinary offenses such as allegedly not buttoning his prison robes properly, properly introducing himself to a guard or washing his face at a specific time.
Protesters hold banners at the residence of the wife of Russia’s Deputy Defense Minister Svetlana Ivanova calling for Navalny’s release
Navalny made the rare appearance as he faced further charges of extremism and terrorism
His supporters have accused prison authorities of failing to provide him with proper medical attention, using blindingly bright lights in his cell and placing him next to a mentally unstable person.
Mr Navalny said on Tuesday he completed a 15-day stay in punishment cell and was immediately ordered to spend another 15 days there.
Russian authorities have stepped up their crackdown on dissent after Putin sent troops to Ukraine under new legislation that effectively criminalizes any public criticism of Moscow’s military action and independent reporting on the conflict.
