Russian prosecutor's office calls for 13 years in prison for opponent Navalni

The Russian Prosecutor's Office asks for 13 years in prison for the opponent NavalNiMoscow, 15 Mar 2022 (AFP) - The Russian prosecutor asked on Tuesday for 13 years in prison against the opponent Alexei Nalvani, a sworn enemy of the Kremlin and victim of the repression of criticism of President Vladimir Putin. is tried in the precinct of the penitentiary colony where he is, 100 km east of Moscow, for accusations of “fraud” and “offenses to the court” .It is in this improvised court where prosecutor Nadejda Tikhonova asked another severe sentence against the opponent who, in 2020, survived a poisoning for which the Kremlin is responsible.” I call for a sentence of deprivation of liberty for 13 years,” said the prosecutor quoted by Russian news agencies. Investigators accuse him of having diverted millions of rubles from donations given to his anti-corruption organizations. Since February 2021, Alexei Navalni has been serving two and a half years in prison for another case of “fraud” dating back to 2014. - Opposition to the conflict in Ukraine - One of the opposition's exiled allies, Leonid Volkov, immediately reacted by stating that the prosecutor's request proves that Navalni will remain in prison “until he dies, or until Vladimir Putin dies.” It is an absolutely innocent man who is on trial, because he tells the truth about Putin's criminal regime,” Liubov Sobol, another ally in exile of Navalni, said on Twitter. In 2020, the opponent spent several months in convalescence in Germany after having survived a poisoning by a nerve agent, for which he holds Vladimir responsible On his return to Russia, the opponent was arrested in January 2021 and tried and convicted of a “fraud” case dating back to 2014. This condemnation generated a wave of criticism and sanctions by Western countries against Moscow.The opponent was included in an official list of “terrorists and extremists”, as part of a campaign of repression against dissenting voices that also affected his main collaborators, who are in exile.This also generated strong pressure from the Russian authorities against various opposition media as well as against NGOs critical of power.Moreover, Alexei Navalni has also spoken out against the offensive of the Russian army in Ukraine and called on his allies and those who support him to demonstrate for peace, despite the risks of arrest and serious judicial actions.About 15,000 peace protesters have been arrested during demonstrations in several cities of the country, according to the specialized NGO OVD-Info.Since the start of the offensive in Ukraine, the Russian power has voted on two laws that provide severe prison sentences for those who denounce the conflict.bur/pz/bl-me/mb —