tried in a new case, the opponent Alexeï Navalny faces 30 years in prison

Again in court. The imprisoned opponent Alexeï Navalny, pet peeve of the Kremlin, faces 30 years in prison in a new trial which opens Monday, June 19. The 47-year-old politician is accused of “extremism” and of having “rehabilitated Nazi ideology”. He also says he is the target of a “terrorism” case for which he risks life in prison, but few details are known.

Alexei Navalny, known for his anti-corruption investigations, is already serving a nine-year prison sentence for “fraud”, a conviction he considers political. The one who narrowly survived poisoning in 2020 has been imprisoned since January 2021.

Very harsh treatment in prison

The trial is being held in the very high security IK-6 penal colony in Melekhovo, 250 km east of Moscow. The contours of the accusation are still vague, the defense of Alexeï Navalny having had only ten days to examine the 196 volumes of the file. “Although it is manifest, judging by the thickness of the volumes, that I am a methodical and diligent criminal, it is impossible to understand precisely what I am accused of”recently commented the prisoner with irony.

The opponent accuses the Kremlin of wanting to keep him in prison for life to make him pay for his critics who have not weakened despite his imprisonment. Through his team, he continues to regularly publish messages on social networks, in particular to denounce the war in Ukraine.

According to his supporters, he is subjected to particularly harsh treatment in prison, where he has lost weight and where he is placed in solitary confinement on the slightest pretext. In a message published in early June, the opponent said he had been sent for the 16th time to a disciplinary cell, where the detainees are alone and in drastic living conditions. He says that the prison administration harasses him by giving him, for example, a fellow prisoner with a viral infection and giving off a foul odor.