Putin Foe Navalny Faces Years More in Jail in New Fraud Trial
- Opposition leader undergoing ‘sham trial,’ Amnesty says
- Navalny was due to be released from prison next year
A photograph taken from a TV screen shows Alexey Navalny, center, during the court hearing in Pokrov, Russai, on Feb. 15.
Photographer: Alexander Nemenov/AFP/Getty Images
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Jailed Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny faces years more in prison as a new fraud trial started Tuesday that his supporters and human rights defenders say aims to keep President Vladimir Putin’s top critic silent.
Navalny, 45, has been in detention since January last year, when he returned to Russia after recovering abroad from a near-fatal attack involving a nerve-agent that he and Western governments blamed on Putin’s secret services. The Kremlin denies any involvement in the assassination attempt in Siberia.