A Russian court on Tuesday found jailed Kremlin opposition leader Alexei Navalny guilty of embezzlement charges, a verdict that could result in his prison sentence being significantly extended, an AFP journalist said. “Navalny committed fraud — the theft of property by an organized group,” judge Margarita Kotova said, according to an AFP reporter present at the trial held in Navalny’s penal camp outside Moscow.
The Reuters news agency reports that Navalny was convicted of large-scale fraud, adding that prosecutors want Russian President Vladimir Putin’s most vocal critic moved to a maximum security penal colony for 13 years on the new conviction. Navalny is already serving two-and-a-half years for parole violations linked to charges he says were bogus and brought to keep him behind bars as long as possible to short-circuit his political aspirations.
He was jailed last year when he went back to Russia after being treated in Germany following a poisoning with the Soviet-era nerve agent Novichok during a 2020 trip to Siberia. Navalny blamed Putin for the attack, but the Kremlin denied it.
The trial on Tuesday concerned additional embezzlement and contempt of court charges.
Navalny appeared in the makeshift court wearing his black prison uniform, with journalists watching via a video link. He listened closely as judge Kotova read out the verdict, sometimes smiling, an AFP reporter said. Investigators accused Navalny of stealing for personal use several million dollars’ worth of donations that were given to his political organizations. Navalny’s poisoning and subsequent arrest sparked widespread condemnation abroad, as well as sanctions from Western capitals. After his arrest, Navalny’s political organizations across the country were declared “extremist” and shut down, while many key aides fled Russia fearing prosecution.
In October, Russia’s prison officials labeled Navalny a terrorist, according to a post on his Instagram account.
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