New “extremism” trial
Navalny faces another 20 years in prison
07/20/2023, 8:13 p.m
Alexej Navalny has been in the Russian prison camp IK-6 since 2021 for alleged fraud. A month ago, the Russian judiciary opened another case against the opposition figure. The accusation: Navalny “revived Nazi ideology” and founded an “extremist” organization.
According to information from those close to him, the Russian public prosecutor’s office is seeking another 20 years in prison for the imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. The Kremlin critic should also serve this sentence in a penal camp, said supporters of the opposition. The European Union meanwhile put the head of the penal camp in which Navalny is being held on its sanctions list.
A month ago, the Russian judiciary began another closed-door trial against Navalny on allegations of “extremism”. In the new trial, Navalny is accused of founding and financing an “extremist” organization, calling for extremist activities and “reviving Nazi ideology”. The 47-year-old opposition figure is already serving a nine-year sentence for alleged fraud in a prison camp.
According to his supporters, at the hearing Navalny criticized Russia’s invasion of Ukraine with “tens of thousands of dead” as the “stupidest and most senseless war of the 21st century”. Russia is “drifting in a pool of mud or blood, with broken bones, with a poor and deprived population,” said a statement by the opposition leader published by Navalny’s staff on the Telegram online service. The verdict should therefore be announced on August 4th.
The trial is taking place in the high-security prison in the IK-6 penal camp, about 250 kilometers south-east of Moscow, where Navalny is being held. According to his own statements, Navalny has suffered from health problems and massive weight loss since his imprisonment.
EU imposes new sanctions
Meanwhile, the EU published new sanctions in its Official Journal against twelve individuals and five organizations it accuses of human rights violations in Russia. Among them are the head of the IK-6 penal camp, Dmitry Noshkin, and four of his deputies. Brussels accuses them of contributing to the deterioration of Navalny’s health. Their methods are “cruel, inhuman and degrading”.
The sanctioned are forbidden to enter the EU, their possible assets within the European Union are frozen. The measures are the answer to the “politically motivated verdicts against the opposition politicians, democracy activists and open critics of the Kremlin” Navalny and Vladimir Kara-Mursa, the European Council said.
The EU also put an agent of the Russian secret service FSB on the sanctions list. Alexander Samofal is said to have been involved in the poisoning of Kara-Mursa. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison for high treason in June.
“Some Sacrifices, Some Trouble”
Navalny is considered the harshest domestic political critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin. He was treated in the Berlin Charité in 2020 after poisoning, for which he blames the Kremlin. After recovering, he returned to Russia in January 2021, was immediately arrested and later convicted of “fraud”.
Restrictions on fundamental freedoms in Russia increased sharply after the attack on Ukraine began in February 2022. Thousands of Russians have been jailed for protesting the war. Most well-known activists who are still in the country are behind bars.
In his final statement in court, Navalny again called on his compatriots to rebel against the authorities. The “birth of a new, free, rich country” would require “some sacrifice, some effort,” he said.