The Russian Prosecutor's Office requests another 20 years in prison for Navalni in a case for extremism
The Russian Prosecutor's Office has requested this Thursday a sentence of 20 years in prison for the prominent opposition leader Alexei Navalni – imprisoned since the beginning of 2021 – for various crimes, including creating an “extremist community”.
Likewise, the Public Ministry has requested another ten years in prison for the technical director of Navalni's YouTube project, Daniel Jolodny, as reported by the opponent's lawyer, Vadim Kobzev, to the Russian news agency Interfax.
The case concerns the Anti-Corruption Foundation, an organization founded by Navalni which, at the request of the Prosecutor's Office, was declared extremist in 2021 and its activity was banned throughout the territory of the Russian Federation.. The opponent pleads not guilty.
Navalni is accused of violating several articles of the Russian Penal Code for creating the alleged extremist community, financing and promoting extremist activities including on the Internet, rehabilitating Nazism and inciting the participation of minors in dangerous acts.
The opponent was imprisoned in January 2021 in the IK-6 penal colony in the Vladimir region when he returned to Moscow from Berlin, where he had been recovering from Novichok nerve agent poisoning.
Both Navalni and Western governments blamed the poisoning on Russian President Vladimir Putin's security service.. The Kremlin, for its part, has at all times denied any type of responsibility for the event.
The Russian Justice opened a new case against him in June for extremism and “rehabilitation of Nazism”. Navalni and his team have denounced that the government seeks to achieve his disappearance while attracting “less and less attention” from the population and the media.
The EU demands his release
For its part, the European Union has demanded this Thursday after learning of the request of the Russian Prosecutor's Office that the opponent be released “immediately and unconditionally”. “Closed-door hearing in another politically motivated trial against Navalni, who now faces a further 20 years in prison for legitimate political and anti-corruption activities,” wrote Peter Stano, spokesman for the head of community diplomacy, Josep Borrell.
“Authorities must allow long overdue visits from his family. The EU calls on Russia for his immediate and unconditional release,” Stano added.
The prosecutor's request includes that the sentence be served in a strict regime prison. The court will issue the sentence on August 4 at 1:00 p.m. GMT. If sentenced to 20 years in prison, the opposition leader, who is already serving an 8-year prison sentence for fraud, will initially have to spend three decades in jail.
The trial began on June 19 in the Vladimir prison, some 200 kilometers from Moscow, and was held behind closed doors, except on one brief occasion.