Russian political opposition leader Alexei Navalny called new terrorism charges against him “absurd” during a video court hearing on Wednesday. Photo: Team Navalny/Twitter
April 26 (UPI) — Imprisoned Russian political opposition leader Alexei Navalny faces a hearing Wednesday on additional extremism and terrorism charges that could carry decades more in prison.
Navalny’s representatives shared a series of tweets relaying his comments from a video link in court, where he dismissed the proceedings as “cynical mockery.”
Spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh added that Navalny, who is already serving a nine-year sentence, now faces two more trials – one for “extremism”, which carries an additional 30 years in prison, and a second for terrorism. 35 years is possible.
“They have brought absurd charges that put me in prison for 30 years, and apparently life in prison.” This is a cynical mockery, this process is trying to make it so that I cannot even look at my case,” said Navaln.
Navalny’s representatives said earlier this month that his health was deteriorating in prison and that he had lost weight.
“We do not rule out that he could have been poisoned by something during all that time in prison to cause his health to deteriorate slowly but steadily,” his team said at the time.
Navalny was poisoned with a nerve agent in 2020. In a telephone conversation with a Russian FSB agent, Navalny said he learned that he had been poisoned with the nerve agent “novichok” placed in his underwear.
After recovering, he returned to Russia to continue his political opposition to V. Putin’s regime.
Navalny’s daughter, Daria, told CNN that her father’s weight loss is dramatic because prison authorities are restricting his food, according to his lawyers.
“Now the situation has become so ridiculous that he buys food, which, you know, is oats – he buys oats, the oats are brought to him, shown to him, and then simply destroyed,” said Daria Navalnaya. “So he can’t eat. And that, you know, something so basic is taken away from a person. It’s terrible,” said Daria Navalnaya.
After appearing in court, A. Navalnas said that he was sent back to solitary confinement for the 16th day.
