Russian courtroom units date for brand spanking new trial of jailed Kremlin foe Navalny

MOSCOW — A Moscow courtroom on Tuesday set the date for a brand new trial of imprisoned Russian opposition chief Alexei Navalny that might maintain him in jail for many years.

The Moscow City Court held a preliminary listening to behind closed doorways to debate technical points associated to the trial of the Kremlin’s arch foe earlier than it begins on June 19.

Navalny’s spokeswoman, Kira Yarmysh, stated that the trial can be held at a most safety jail 150 miles east of Moscow the place Navalny is serving a nine-year sentence for fraud and contempt of courtroom.

Navalny, 47, who uncovered official corruption and arranged main anti-Kremlin protests, was arrested in January 2021 upon returning to Moscow after recuperating in Germany from nerve agent poisoning that he blamed on the Kremlin.

Navalny has stated that the brand new extremism prices which he rejected as “absurd” may maintain him in jail for an additional 30 years. He stated an investigator informed him that he would additionally face a separate navy courtroom trial on terrorism prices that might probably carry a life sentence.

The new accusations come as Russian authorities are conducting an intensified crackdown on dissent amid the preventing in Ukraine, which Navalny has harshly criticized.