MOSCOW | Jailed Russian opponent Alexei Navalny said on Thursday he faces new criminal charges for “promoting terrorism”, “inciting extremism”, “financing extremist activities” and “rehabilitating Nazism”, all of which are punishable by 30 years in prison.
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“The lawyers calculated that it was about 30 years, taking into account the penalties provided for by each of these articles” of the penal code, he said in a message circulated by his team on social networks.
The 46-year-old anti-corruption activist, who is said to be President Vladimir Putin’s main critic, said he received a notification informing him about the opening of this new criminal case, although he is already in jail.
“I’m a genius of the criminal world (…) They all thought I was in solitary confinement, in prison for two years, but in fact I actively committed crimes,” he quipped, congratulating Russian investigators on their “Vigilance” success. .
According to him, some of these new allegations are visibly linked to videos released by his exiled allies, who continue to crack down on Russian power from abroad.
Alexei Navalny was arrested in Russia in January 2021 when he returned to the country after suffering a serious attempt at poisoning which he blames on the Kremlin.
Last March he was sentenced to nine years in prison under a “heavy” regime for “fraud” which he believes was fabricated.
He continues to send messages to his lawyers denouncing Vladimir Putin and his intervention in Ukraine, which are then published online by his team.
That summer he repeatedly claimed to have been held in a punishment cell in his penal colony near Vladimir, 200 km east of Moscow.
His poisoning in 2020, then his imprisonment, has been harshly denounced in the West.