Russia: Call for 13-Year Penalty for Opposition Leader Navalny

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian authorities are asking for a 13-year prison sentence for opposition leader Alexei Navalny in a trial that Kremlin critics say is an attempt to keep President Vladimir Putin's opponent in prison for as long as possible.

Navalny is already serving a two-and-a-half year sentence in a penal colony east of Moscow. In this case he is accused of fraud and contempt of court. The prosecution accuses him of embezzling the funds raised by his foundation over the years and of insulting a judge during his previous trial. Navalny rejects all charges, which he says are politically motivated.

In its closing statement on Tuesday, the prosecution called for 13 years in a maximum security prison for the anti-corruption activist and a fine of 1.2 million rubles (about $10,700). It was not clear whether, if convicted, he would serve his sentence at the same time as the other or after it.

Navalny's main ally, Leonid Volkov, who left Russia where he is accused of several criminal charges, said Tuesday in a Facebook message that the authorities want him to remain in prison “until the end of the life of one of two people: Navalny himself or Vladimir Putin.”

After the prosecution's plea, the judge ordered a brief recess before hearing the defence's statement.

The trial, which began exactly one month ago, took place in a makeshift court in the penal colony where Navalny is serving his sentence for violating the conditions of his probation. His supporters protested the transfer of the trial from a court in Moscow, arguing that it has limited press access to the trial.

Navalny, 45, has appeared at the hearings in the suit of a convict. He made several lengthy speeches in which he rejected the charges against him as false.

Navalny was arrested in January 2021 upon his return from Germany, where he spent five months of convalescence after a poisoning of which he accuses the Kremlin, which he strongly rejects.