The imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny

on Monday urged its supporters to launch a wide-ranging campaign against Moscow’s actions

Ukraine

Hi

went on trial

Monday

on fresh charges of extremism that could keep him behind bars for decades.

The lawsuit

started within opened on

a high-security penal colony in Melekhovo, 150 miles east of Moscow, where 47-year-old Navalny is serving a nine-year prison sentence for fraud and contempt of court charges he says are politically motivated. Shortly after it started, the judge

reigned to

close to

i.e

the trial open to the public despite Navalny’s call for it to be kept open.

In a statement posted on social media by his allies, Navalny said the decision to close the trial was a sign of fear by

President Vladimir Putin

and he announced the start of a campaign against Moscow’s decision to steer

troops to Ukraine

. Navalny said the effort should reach millions to explain the disastrous impact of the fighting and fight Putin’s lies and Kremlin’s hypocrisy. He argued that despite a ruthless crackdown on dissent, such a campaign could be efficiently run on messaging apps beyond the control of authorities. No one but us can participate in this battle for the hearts and minds of our citizens, so we must do it and win, Navalny said.

Navalny, who denounced official corruption and organized large protests against the Kremlin, was arrested in January 2021 when he returned to Moscow after recovering in Germany from nerve poisoning he blamed on the Kremlin.

navy,

He was wearing his prison clothes

Navalni

looked thinly at the session but spoke emphatically and made energetic gestures.

Navalny Hey

said

That

the new charges of extremism, which he dismisses as absurd, could earn him 30 years in prison

more

years. He said he was told by an investigator that he would also face a separate trial in military court on terrorism charges, which could carry a possible life sentence.

Monday’s trial comes as Russian authorities a

sweeping crackdown on dissent

amid the fighting in Ukraine, which Navalny has sharply criticized. Imprisoned Navalny hears documentary about him and wins Oscar

The Moscow court, which opened the hearing on Monday at

Penal Colony No. 6, the IK-6 prison where Navalny is held,

did not allow media in the room. Instead, they followed the procedure via video feed from a separate building. Navalny’s parents were also denied access to the courtroom and followed the hearing from a distance.

Navalny and his lawyers urged the judge to hold a public trial, arguing that authorities were keen to withhold details of the proceedings to cover up the weakness of the case.

Investigators, prosecutors and authorities in general don’t want the public to know about the trial, Navalny said.

Abcarian: Is the documentary ‘Navalny’ a life insurance policy for him?

Prosecutor Nadezhda Tikhonova asked the judge to conduct the trial behind closed doors, citing security concerns.

The judge agreed and reporters were asked to leave the premises. The feed of the hearing to the media room was subsequently interrupted, but it was not immediately clear whether this was because the judge decided to close the trial or for some other reason.

The new charges against Navalny are related to the activities of his anti-corruption foundation and statements by his top associates. His allies said the charges would retroactively criminalize all activities of the Navalnys foundation since its founding in 2011.

One of Navalny’s associates, Daniel Kholodny, was transferred from another prison to stand trial with him.

in jail,

Navalny has spent months in a small one-person cell called a punishment cell for alleged disciplinary violations, such as allegedly not buttoning his prison robes properly, properly introducing himself to a guard, or washing his face at a specified time.

Navalny’s associates and supporters have suspected prison authorities of not providing him with proper medical care and expressed concern about his ill health.

When Navalny’s trial began, the Attorney General’s office stated

a

Based on Bulgaria

agora

human rights group

past,

be an unwanted organization. It said the group threatened constitutional order and national security by claiming human rights violations and by providing legal aid to members of the opposition movement.

Russian authorities have banned dozens of domestic and foreign non-governmental organizations on similar grounds.

In Berlin, the German government criticized Navalny’s trial and reiterated its call for his immediate release.

Russian opposition leader jailed for eight years for criticizing war in Ukraine

In the case of opposition politician Alexei Navalny, Russian authorities continue to look for new excuses to extend his detention, government spokesman Wolfgang Buechner told reporters.

The German government continues to demand that Russian authorities release Navalny without delay, he added. Navalny’s imprisonment is based on a politically motivated sentence, as the European Court of Human Rights concluded in 2017.

Asked if Germany could help Navalny or observe the trial, State Department spokesman Christian Wagner said German officials were doing what they could on the few channels we have, but acknowledged that at this point, moment was very difficult given the current state of affairs. relations with Russia.