Navalny is tired, but he is still active in a new experience

The 47-year-old Navalny looked worn out, but looked refreshed when he appeared at the start of the trial on Monday. He is already in prison following previous convictions, which came after Russia stepped up its prosecution of dissidents in connection with the disastrous invasion of Ukraine.

According to Navalny himself, the latest charges could lead to a 30-year sentence extension. He also says that an investigator has stated that another trial may await later, as he faces the risk of life in prison for “terrorism”.

Thousands of pages

At this point, prosecutors provided him with 3,828 pages detailing the new crimes he allegedly committed while in prison.

– Although it is clear from the size of the pile of documents that I am a sophisticated and persistent criminal, it is impossible to know exactly what I am accused of, he says.

He was accused of, among other things, financing extremist activities, public incitement to extremist activities and “rehabilitating Nazi ideology”.

– He is being prosecuted for his political work, says Navalny’s spokeswoman, Kira Garmysh.

He returned in 2021

During parts of the 2000s, Navalny was seen as one of the few opposition figures in Russia who had the opportunity to challenge President Putin’s regime in public opinion. But in 2020, he was poisoned in a plot traced back to the FSB.

After several months of convalescence in Germany, he returned to Russia in January 2021, and was promptly arrested. Since then, Navalny has been sentenced to prison multiple times, in trials widely seen as the regime’s way of trying to silence his criticism of Russia’s development.