Jailed Russian opposition leader, Alexei Navalny has revealed that Russian investigators have opened what he called an "absurd" terrorism case against him that could see him sentenced to an additional 30 years in jail.
Navalny, a former lawyer who is the most popular critic of President Vladimir Putin, is serving combined sentences of 11-1/2 years for fraud and contempt of court on charges that he says were formulated to silence him.
He appeared in a Moscow court
via video link on Wednesday, April 26 as part of a case into extremism,
Reuters reporters at the court said.
"They
have made absurd accusations, according to which I face 30 years in
prison," he said in a statement published on social media by his
supporters.
"I insist that the attempt to close the process is an attempt not just to prevent me from getting acquainted with the case, but it is also an attempt to make sure that no one finds out about it," he said.
Navalny said it was
absurd to argue he had committed terrorism while in prison. He said the
case would be tried by a military court.
Navalny returned to
Russia in 2021 from Germany, where he had been treated for what was an
attempt to poison him with a nerve agent in Siberia.
Navalny
says he was poisoned in Siberia in August 2020 and accused Russian
agents of being behind the assassination attempt. The Kremlin denied
trying to kill him.
This April Russian investigators formally linked Navalny supporters to the murder of Vladlen Tatarsky, a popular military blogger and supporter of Russia's military campaign in Ukraine, who was killed by a bomb in St Petersburg. Navalny allies have denied any connection to the killing.
Separately on Wednesday,
Russian investigators said that 11 people had been put on an
"international wanted list" in a case linked to Navalny, state-owned
news agency TASS reported.
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