Jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny said Wednesday that he is facing “absurd” new terrorism charges carrying 30 years in prison that are possibly linked to the assassination of a pro-war blogger.
An emaciated-looking but upbeat Navalny appeared in a Moscow court via videoconference Wednesday to face new counts of extremism.
It was Navalny’s first public appearance since his attorney and spokesperson claimed that he was suffering from a mystery stomach pain in jail and had lost 18 pounds in two weeks, potentially as a result of being slowly poisoned.
Dressed in a black prison jacket, the 46-year-old Kremlin critic smiled and traded jokes with reporters before his microphone was muted.
“They have made absurd accusations, according to which I face 30 years in prison,” he later said in a statement released online by his associates.
He revealed that an investigator had told him he also would face a separate military court trial on terrorism charges that are punishable by up to life in prison.
Navalny, an anti-corruption activist and President Vladimir Putin’s vocal critic, is already serving combined sentences of more than 11 years in prison on fraud and contempt of court charges that he and his supporters say were trumped up in a bid to silence him.
While it was not officially stated what the new terrorism case was about, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said that Ukraine and Russian opposition figures from an anti-corruption foundation set up by Navalny orchestrated the bombing that killed prominent pro-Putin war blogger Maxim Fomin, aka Vladlen Tatarsky, in a St Petersburg café.
Navalny scoffed at the government’s claim that he had committed terrorism from behind bars.
Navalny’s ally Leonid Volkov said the terrorism accusations retroactively criminalize all the activities of Navalny’s organization since its creation in 2011 and carry a potential punishment of up to 35 years in prison.
Navalny’s top associate Ivan Zhdanov said Wednesday that investigators were revising the charges to link them to the bombing that killed Tatarksy.
Darya Trepova, a 26-year-old St. Petersburg resident who was seen on video presenting Tatarsky with a bust moments before the blast, has been described by the authorities as an active supporter of Navalny. They also accused Zhdanov and Volkov of making repeated calls for subversive activities in Russia.
An investigator told the court Wednesday that 11 other suspects facing extremism charges alongside Navalny have remained at large and have been put on an international wanted list.
The hearing at Moscow’s Basmanny District Court was held to discuss preparations for Navalny’s trial on the extremism charges. Navalny asked for more time to study the 196 case files.
The Putin-appointed judge ruled that Navalny could have 10 days to study his 700-page criminal case.
On the eve of the court hearing, Navalny shared online that he was placed back in solitary confinement for another 15 days immediately after being released from his previous 15-day stint in a “punishment cell,” without the customary one-day break.
“They abolished an ironclad rule of prisons for me, which was sacredly observed both in the USSR and Russia,” he tweeted, sarcastically calling the move a “milestone.”
Navalny’s spokesperson said that it marked his 14th trip to the “punishment cell” for a total of 158 days.
With Post wires