(Moscow) Twenty years in prison have been requested against the already imprisoned Russian opponent Alexeï Navalny, tried for a month behind closed doors in a new trial for “extremism”, illustrating the climate of repression in Russia in the midst of the conflict in Ukraine.
“The prosecution requests 20 years in prison for Navalny, to be served in a special regime colony,” his relatives wrote on Telegram messaging, specifying that the verdict will be delivered on August 4.
The 47-year-old anti-corruption activist, who is already serving a nine-year prison sentence for “fraud”, is targeted by this new trial in which he faces up to 30 years in prison.
A pet peeve of President Vladimir Putin, regularly sent to a correctional cell in his prison, Mr. Navalny denounces these cases as being political revenge.
Since the start of the Russian military campaign in Ukraine in February 2022, most opponents who have not fled Russia have been imprisoned or are being prosecuted, in particular for having denounced the conflict.
During his new trial, Mr. Navalny once again denounced the Russian offensive, referring to the “tens of thousands of dead in the most stupid and senseless war of the 21st century”, according to comments broadcast on his Telegram account by his collaborators.
“Sooner or later (Russia) will rise again. And it is up to us to know what it will build on in the future,” he added.
The opponent, who narrowly survived a poisoning in 2020 of which he accuses the Kremlin, has been imprisoned since January 2021.
His trial is being held behind closed doors in the very high security penal colony IK-6 in Melekhovo, 250 km east of Moscow.