More than 200 supporters of the Russian opposition leader and Kremlin’s main critic, Alexei Navalny, were arrested on Tuesday outside a hearing that could imprison him for up to three and a half years.
At least 287 people were arrested while the hearing took place, days after more than 5,000 people across the country were detained for protests in support of Navalny, according to the independent protest surveillance group OVD-Info.
Navalny was given a suspended sentence in 2014 for fraud, which the Russian authorities are now converting to a full custodial sentence for alleged violations of parole. The European Court of Human Rights considers this conviction to be politically motivated.
Navalny, 44, was poisoned and nearly died while conducting a corruption investigation in Siberia last summer. He was transported to Germany for treatment by airlift after Russian doctors found no signs of poisoning. It was later determined that he had been poisoned with Soviet-era Novichok nerve agent, which Navalny claims was ordered by President Vladimir Putin. The Kremlin has denied any involvement.
Standing behind reinforced glass, Navalny joked with his wife Yulia, who was arrested at a rally last weekend and called her “a bad girl.”
Later, Navalny made a fiery speech in court, denouncing the proceedings and reiterating his claim that the case against him was fabricated, according to a transcript from Russian news channel TV Doghd. Reporters were present, but were not allowed to bring cameras into court.
He said President Putin was personally after him.
“He can pretend to be a great politician, but he will go down in history as a poisoner,” said Navalny. “We had Alexander the Liberator, Yaroslav the Wise and now we’ll have Vladimir the Underpants Poison Mixer.”
Navalny was referring to his own investigation into his poisoning, which he said showed that his alleged hitmen smeared poison on his underwear.
The purpose of his trial was not to imprison him, but to intimidate his supporters, he said.
“This process will not be seen by people as a signal to fear more,” he said. “This is a demonstration of weakness, not strength.”
To illustrate the international interest in the case, foreign diplomats from at least 12 countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom, as well as the European Union, were present at the court to observe the hearing, the court confirmed to the Russian news agency Interfax .
State Department spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Facebook that the diplomats’ presence “interferes not only with the internal affairs of a sovereign state, but also the self-accusation of the West’s unsightly and illegal attempts to contain Russia. “.
While the Navalny trial was underway, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Moscow has reason to believe the politician’s poisoning was “a sham,” Russian state news agency Tass reported.
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Navalny has been a thorn in Putin’s side for years with his anti-corruption investigations of the Kremlin’s elite. His latest investigation into a luxurious palace that allegedly belongs to Putin has been viewed more than 100 million times on YouTube. The Russian president has denied owning the palace.
Detained at an airport in Moscow when he arrived from Berlin last month, Navalny called on his supporters and those frustrated by the Putin regime to “let go of their fears” and take to the streets in protest.
His calls were heeded when tens of thousands of people joined protesters across Russia on January 23 – despite freezing temperatures, a coronavirus pandemic and multiple warnings from Russian authorities not to attend – in one of Russia’s biggest expressions of discontent. has seen in recent years. Nearly 4,000 people were detained by the police, some of them by force.
On Sunday, a similar crowd took to the streets all over the country amid high security in the nation’s capital. More than 5,600, including journalists, were detained amid reports that police used tear gas, tasers and batons to crack down on protesters.
Putin’s spokesman Dmitri Peskov described the protesters Monday as “hooligans” and “provocateurs”, who displayed “aggressive behavior” towards law enforcement officials.
Navalny’s detention and police crackdown on protesters has caused outrage among the US and its European allies. State Secretary Antony Blinken convicted Russian authorities for using “hard tactics” against protesters and journalists on Sunday.
It is an issue that has put pressure on both the Kremlin and President Joe Biden as he sets his course on Russia’s foreign policy.
Yuliya Talmazan and Patrick Smith reported from London; Matt Bodner reported from Moscow.
Reuters contributed to this report.
