The Russian opposition politician and anti-corruption fighter is to receive another long prison sentence in a questionable trial. He doesn’t seem to let that bother him.
Alexey Navalny, flanked by his lawyers Olga Mikhailova (left) and Vadim Kobsev, can be seen in a transmission from the hall in the penal colony.
Russia’s currently best-known prisoner, opposition politician Alexei Navalny, is on trial in a new criminal case. It is not the first time that he has been given dubious special treatment. The trial did not begin in Moscow’s Lefortovo District Court, which is responsible for the case, but in penal colony number 2 of the Vladimir region in the small town of Pokrov, about a hundred kilometers east of Moscow. This only happens very rarely. Actually, prisoners should be transferred back to pre-trial detention for the time of a new trial. At least journalists were allowed.
Navalny in prison uniform
The court did not provide a reason for the questionable circumstances. However, it is obvious that the aim was to create the most uncomfortable conditions possible for Navalny and his lawyers and to shield him more from the public. The accused must appear in court in prison garb, which makes him appear guilty from the start.
His defense attorneys were not allowed to take any electronic devices into the prison camp’s auditorium, which had been converted into a courtroom, and thus did not have access to the thirty-file indictment. Only one thing benefited Navalny: the usual cage for the accused was missing, so that the emaciated and cropped politician was able to hug his wife Julia, who had traveled there, during the break in the negotiations.
In the case of Navalny, the Russian judiciary and its cues have not been embarrassed for a long time – neither the course of the trial nor the content of the indictment. This can also be seen from the indictment. It’s about fraud and a lack of respect for the court, two completely separate cases. However, the seemingly absurd trial in the penal colony is likely to have far-reaching consequences for 45-year-old Navalny: he faces a further ten to fifteen years in prison.
No evidence for allegations
In the first part of the indictment, Navalny is accused of embezzling donations to his anti-corruption foundation, which has since been declared extremist. Navalny and his comrades-in-arms have been collecting money for extremist activities under the pretext of fighting corruption since 2011 and misusing it for personal purposes.
Guards at the entrance to Pokrov penal colony number 2, where the trial of Alexei Navalny has started.
The allegations relate to four alleged victims and a sum of around 25,000 francs. They seem constructed. In one case, for example, a donation had been received and shortly thereafter the donor had filed a complaint. The prosecutor read Navalny’s expenses for the past few years down to the last detail – except for the names of hotels in Europe where he had stayed – which was probably intended to denounce him as a spendthrift in front of state television audiences. However, she did not provide any evidence of a connection between the donations to the foundation and Navalny’s personal expenses.
In the trial for insulting the court, on the other hand, she presented an almost comical collection of some actually rude exclamations from Navalny during the trial for insulting a war veteran.
“Don’t be afraid”
Navalny took the opportunity to to appear before the public again, and picked apart the charge. He thanked sarcastically for the audit of his foundation work: It became clear that donations never flowed between the foundation and employees. Of 300,000 donors, only four would have found an ad. He encouraged his comrades-in-arms, who were now scattered to the winds or even imprisoned because of impending charges, to continue the fight against the corrupt bureaucracy.
There is nothing to fear. The only thing to fear is living in poverty and without prospects, which lasts as long as a gang of thieves is in power. The fact that the opposition politician, despite an attempt on his life, return, imprisonment in one of the toughest penal colonies and denunciation as an “extremist”, is so tough and combative should encourage the power apparatus to pursue him and his former comrades-in-arms even more mercilessly.