Factbox-What Are Russia’s New Expenses Towards Jailed Putin Foe Navalny?

(Reuters) – Russian state prosecutors have requested a court docket to condemn jailed opposition politician Alexei Navalny to an extra 20 years in a penal colony on numerous legal expenses together with extremism, with a verdict anticipated on Friday.

Navalny, President Vladimir Putin’s fiercest and most vocal home opponent, is already serving sentences totalling 11-1/2 years on fraud and different expenses, which he says have been trumped as much as silence him.

WHAT ARE THE NEW CHARGES?

– Creation of an extremist organisation;

– Rehabilitation of Nazism;

– Two counts of public requires extremism (one at a rally and one other on-line);

– Creation of a non-governmental organisation (Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Fund) whose actions are alleged to be related to incitement to commit crimes;

– Involvement of a minor in committing unlawful acts (stemming from the truth that folks underneath 18 attended Navalny’s rallies);

– Elevating funds to finance extremism.

Navalny says the costs, like all these earlier than them, have been fabricated to maintain him out of public life and politics.

WHAT DOES THE KREMLIN SAY ABOUT THE CASE?

The Kremlin denies persecuting Navalny, whom it has portrayed as a Western-backed agent of political disruption, and says his case is solely a authorized matter for the courts.

“We’re not following this trial,” Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov informed reporters in June.

HOW MANY MORE YEARS COULD NAVALNY FACE IN PRISON?

State prosecutors have requested 20 years, however Navalny mentioned in April that investigators had additionally opened what he known as an “absurd” terrorism case towards him that might see him sentenced to a further 30 years in jail.

It was not clear what the terrorism case might relate to, however Russia’s Federal Safety Service has mentioned that Ukraine and Russian opposition figures, together with Navalny supporters, have been concerned within the killing of a distinguished Russian conflict blogger.

Terrorism carries a sentence in Russia of as much as 35 years.

(Reporting by Filipp Lebedev and Lucy Papachristou; Enhancing by Gareth Jones and Conor Humphries)

Copyright 2023 Thomson Reuters.