Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny appears in court via video to defend new charges

Imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has appeared in court via video to defend himself against new charges that could see him stay in jail for decades.

Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny has gone on trial in Russia on “extremism” charges that could see his prison time extended for decades as part of wider government efforts to silence dissent.

The case comes more than a year into Russia’s full-scale offensive in Ukraine, which ushered in a new wave of legal proceedings against Moscow’s critics, with many now in exile or in jail.

An AFP journalist at the maximum security IK-6 penal colony 250 kilometres east of Moscow where the 47-year-old veteran opponent of Russian President Vladimir Putin is being held, reported that proceedings were underway.

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny (standing) is seen on-screen on Monday during court hearings in the penal colony at Melekhovo where he is jailed. Picture: AFP

Navalny once mobilised massive anti-Kremlin protests but is now serving a nine-year prison sentence on embezzlement charges that his supporters see as punishment for his political work.

He was arrested in 2021 on his arrival in Moscow from Germany, where he had been recovering from a poisoning attack that he blamed on the Kremlin.

Navalny, who has experienced major weight loss in prison, now faces up to another 30 years behind bars.

A law enforcement officer stands next to Anatoly Navalny, Alexei’s father, as he watches court hearings via video link in penal colony about 250km east of Moscow. Picture: AFP

Navalny said that prosecutors had provided him with 3,828 pages describing all the crimes he is alleged to have committed while in prison.

“Although it’s clear from the size of the tomes that I am a sophisticated and persistent criminal, it’s impossible to find out what exactly I am accused of,” Navalny quipped.

He has been charged with financing extremist activity, publicly inciting extremist activities and “rehabilitating the Nazi ideology,” among other offences.

‘TRIED FOR POLITICAL WORK’

While he has been the target of multiple legal cases, this is the first formally political case against him, his team said.

“He is being tried for his political work,” Navalny’s spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh told AFP.

In April, Navalny said he was told he would be judged by a military tribunal over “terrorism” charges. He could face life in prison, he said.

Protesters gather outside the Russian Embassy in London on June 4 to mark Mr Navalny’s 47th birthday. Picture: AFP

Navalny’s team says he has been harassed in prison, where he was kept in a “punishment cell” for perceived transgressions.

He said prison officials forced him to share a cell with a sick, foul-smelling inmate and subjected him and other prisoners to “torture by Putin”, making them listen to the Kremlin chief’s speeches.

The opposition leader – a lawyer by training – has taken prison officials to court to retain access to what he sees as basic prisoner rights.

‘WAKE UP IN THIS HELLHOLE’

He has also taunted his jailers, reporting that he has filed formal requests for a balalaika and a kimono and to be allowed to keep a kangaroo and a May bug in jail.

On his third birthday behind bars in early June, Navalny said he was “in a really good mood”.

“Of course I wish I didn’t have to wake up in this hellhole and instead have breakfast with my family, receive kisses on the cheek from my children, unwrap presents.”

Taken on June 11, this photo shows a life-size replica of the cell in which Mr Navalny is imprisoned and has been installed on the Place des Nations in Geneva. Picture: AFP

Alexei Navalny is seen on a screen via a video link from his penal colony before a hearing over the extremism criminal case against him, at the Basmanny district court in Moscow. Picture: AFP

Navalny has built a huge social media operation producing videos providing evidence of systemic corruption among Russian elites.

He still communicates on social media through his team.

He said in February that Moscow’s defeat in Ukraine was “inevitable” and Russia should pay for Ukraine’s losses once the fighting ends.

Lilia Chanysheva, the head of Navalny’s headquarters in the central city of Ufa, has been jailed for seven years. Picture: AFP

Russian opposition prominent activist Ilya Yashin is in jail. Picture: AFP

Navalny had set up a network of campaign offices across the country and aimed to run for president in 2018, but election authorities did not allow him to challenge Putin.

Navalny’s offices were designated “extremist” organisations in 2021, putting employees, volunteers and supporters at risk of prosecution.

In mid-June, a Russian court sentenced the head of Navalny’s headquarters in the central city of Ufa, Lilia Chanysheva, to seven-and-a-half years in prison.

Thousands of Russians have been arrested for protesting the conflict in Ukraine, and most high-profile activists still in Russia – including Vladimir Kara-Murza and Ilya Yashin – are behind bars.