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Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny appeared via video link to a Moscow court on Thursday in his first public appearance since ending a three-week hunger strike, which his allies said pushed him to the brink of death.
Navalny ended his hunger strike on April 23 on the advice of his own physicians, who said tests by civilian doctors had indicated his life was in danger. A nationwide protest demanding proper medical care for Navalny the same week brought tens of thousands of Russians out onto the streets.
Addressing his wife Yulia in the courtroom on Thursday, a gaunt and shaven-headed Navalny said he was on a strict diet of porridge, but had so far failed to convince the prison leadership to give him fresh vegetables. “They’re probably asking Putin,” he joked. A lawyer for Navalny said the opposition politician had lost 22 kilograms since his jailing.
Navalny called Russian President Vladimir Putin a “naked emperor” who wanted to “continue ruling until the end and couldn’t care less about the country.”
Navalny was sentenced to more than two-and-a-half years in prison in February for violating the terms of parole relating to an earlier embezzlement conviction. The case being heard on Thursday is separate and relates to an accusation he insulted a World War II veteran.
Navalny denied wrongdoing in the embezzlement case and rejected the charge he had insulted the veteran. Navalny and his supporters regard both cases as politically motivated, a position the EU has backed.
The opposition politician’s latest appearance in court comes as dark clouds continue to gather over the grassroots political movement he has spent almost a decade building.
In a different Moscow court on Thursday, authorities held a closed hearing into whether groups affiliated with Navalny — long regarded as Putin’s strongest political opponent — should be labelled as “extremist” organizations.
If they are, which looks highly likely, then the groups would face the same legal treatment as terrorist organizations such as al-Qaeda.
Among the groups targeted are Navalny’s political campaign offices throughout the country and the Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK), which earlier this year published a viral video investigation into a lavish palace allegedly built for Putin.
If the groups are designated as extremist, then employees and volunteers who work for them — as well as ordinary Russians who help finance or share information about them — would be at risk of criminal prosecution and could face up to 10 years in prison.
Navalny-linked groups have already been banned from sharing information online, organizing gatherings and accessing their funds ahead of a main hearing into the case of alleged extremism scheduled for May 17.
Navalny ally Leonid Volkov, who is currently in exile, on Thursday announced the closure of dozens of regional campaign offices, formalizing a dismantling of Navalny’s networks which began in mid-April when authorities launched the extremism case.
“Maintaining the work of Navalny’s network of headquarters in its current form is impossible: it would lead to criminal sentences for those who work in the headquarters, who collaborate with them and for those who help them,” Volkov said in a social media post. “This hurts and it is sad, but despite everything I remain optimistic,” he said.
Volkov added that individual opposition politicians and volunteers would continue fighting for Navalny’s cause ahead of parliamentary elections in September.
Navalny’s February sentencing came shortly after his return to Russia from Germany, where he had been treated for the effects of poisoning after being exposed to a nerve agent, an attack he blamed on Putin. The Kremlin has denied any involvement, but the EU and U.S. both sanctioned Russia over the matter.
Navalny’s team also said on Thursday that Russian authorities had launched new proceedings against him for founding what they described as a non-profit organization that “infringes on the rights of citizens.”
His ally Volkov and FBK head Ivan Zhdanov, who is also in exile, were also named as suspects in the case.
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