CNN —Jailed opposition leader Alexey Navalny appeared before a Russian court Monday to defend himself against fresh charges of extremism, in a trial that could extend his prison term by decades.
In comments posted to his Twitter account, Navalny said the “absurd” charges could lead to him serving a further 30 years behind bars.
Navalny’s team challenged judge Andrey Suvorov, and asked him to recuse himself, according to the team’s Telegram posts.
Also present at the hearing is Daniel Kholodny, the former technical director of the Navalny Live YouTube channel, accused in the same extremism case.
Putin himself said in December 2020 that if Russian security services had wanted to kill Navalny, they “would have finished” the job.
Persons:
CNN —, Alexey Navalny, Vladimir Putin, Navalny, Navalny’s, Vadim Kobzev, Olga Mikhailova, Svetlana Davyodva, Andrey Suvorov, Vladimir, ”, Daniel Kholodny, Evgenia Novozhenina, Lilia Chanysheva, Chanysheva, “, Novichok, Putin
Organizations:
CNN, TASS, IK, Journalists, Russian Security Service
Locations:
Melekhovo, Moscow, Russian, Ufa, Russia, Germany, Soviet, Berlin, Siberian, Omsk, Siberia