Navalny was detained two weeks ago after returning to Moscow from Berlin, accused of failing to fulfill his conditional terms under a 2014 suspended sentence for embezzlement – a case he has dismissed as politically motivated. Prison authorities are now trying to replace his suspended sentence with a 3.5-year sentence.
In court, Navalny demanded to know how he could have better informed the coma authorities about his whereabouts.
“Can you explain to me how else I should have fulfilled the conditions of my probation and tell me where I am?” he said from his glass house in the counting room.
A prison service representative replied saying that he should have provided documents explaining the serious reasons preventing him from standing up for inspections.
“Coma?” Navalny fired back. ‘Why are you sitting here telling the court you didn’t know where I was? I fell into a coma, then I was in the ICU and then in rehab. I contacted my attorney to send you a message. You had the address, my contact details. What else could I have done to inform you? ” he said.
“The president of our country said live on the air that he let me go to Germany for treatment and you didn’t know that either?”
Tuesday’s hearing began under a heavy security presence, with riot police securing the courthouse and cordoning off the general area with police vehicles, trucks and vans. The streets in the neighborhood were open but closed to pedestrians and protesters with barricades.
CNN reporters witnessed police arrest dozens of people out of court before the hearing began.
The Russian authorities had repeatedly threatened to imprison Navalny if he returned to Russia from Germany. Navalny’s lawyers previously told CNN they had little hope of his release, criticizing the Kremlin’s control over the country’s courts.
In defense, they argued that the prison service was well aware of Navalyny’s whereabouts as it received a message from him in early December. His lawyers also presented a letter from the Charite Clinic in Berlin, which indicated that he was in rehabilitation until his return to Russia.
The hearing is set against the backdrop of widespread anti-government protests. Tens of thousands of Russians have taken to the streets across the country for two consecutive weekends to support Navalny and demand his release. A court decision to imprison Navalny will probably only set protesters on fire.
On Sunday, protesters were met with the loudest display of violence from Russian security forces in years. According to the independent control group OVD-Info, more than 5,000 people were trapped in at least 85 cities, a record since 2011 protests. Navalny led massive protests against Putin’s government in 2017-18.
“Julia, they show you on TV and keep talking about your radical behavior. Such a bad girl, I am proud of you, ”Navalny said shortly before his hearing began.
Navalny’s allies have already called for another round of nationwide demonstrations next weekend.
CNN’s Angela Dewan and Anna Chernova contributed to this report.