Imprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny appeared in a Russian court today facing new extremism charges that could extend his prison term for decades.

The hearing took place at the IK-6 prison colony (katerga) in Melekovo, about 235 kilometers east of Moscow, where Navalny is already serving sentences totaling 11-and-a-half years.

Navalny, gaunt in a black prison uniform, sat on a bench looking at his papers and chatting briefly with one of his lawyers.

He then stood up and spoke for about three minutes, challenging the judge’s authority. “I believe that, given the current circumstances and the criminal law, you should stand down,” he said.

Authorities did not allow journalists to enter the courtroom but were able to watch the proceedings via video link from a nearby room.

In a tweet posted on his account by supporters last month, Navalny responded with characteristic irony to the new charges.
“Well, Alexei, you’re in trouble for good now…The Attorney General’s Office has officially handed over 3,828 pages detailing all the crimes I’ve committed while already in prison.”

He stated that he has not been allowed to read this material to see exactly what he is accused of because he was again in solitary confinement and could only have a mug and a book with him.

The new categories

A new entry in court records last month showed the new charges relate to six different articles of Russia’s criminal code, including incitement and her financing of extremist activity and the formation of an extremist organization.

It was not immediately clear what specific actions or incidents the new charges refer to. One is related to “restoration of Nazism— a possible reference to Navalny’s statements in support of Ukraine, whose government Russia accuses of espousing Nazi ideology. Ukraine and its Western allies reject the charge as baseless.

In April, investigators formally linked Navalny’s supporters to the murder of Vladlen Tatarskya well-known military blogger and supporter of the Russian military campaign in Ukraine who was killed by a bomb in St. Petersburg.

Russia’s National Anti-Terrorism Committee (NAC) said Ukrainian intelligence services had organized the bombing with the help of Navalny supporters. Navalny’s allies deny any connection to the assassination. Ukraine attributed it to “domestic terrorism”.

Navalny, 46, voluntarily returned to Russia in 2021 from Germany, where he was hospitalized after an attempt to poison him, according to Western lab tests, with a Soviet-era nerve agent.

The Kremlin denied trying to kill him and said there was no evidence he was poisoned with a toxin.

His supporters accuse Russian authorities of trying to demoralize him in prison to silence him from criticizing President Vladimir Putin, which the Kremlin denies.

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Russia has outlawed Navalny’s organization as part of a crackdown on dissent that began long before the conflict in Ukraine and has intensified in the nearly 16 months since it began. Last week one of Navalny’s campaign chiefs was jailed for seven and a half years.