D-day for Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny as Russian court considers longer jail term
Source: Reuters
By Maria Tsvetkova, Polina Nikolskaya
FEBRUARY 2, 2021, 3:48 AM EST
MOSCOW (Reuters) - A Russian court convened on Tuesday to consider jailing Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny for up to three and a half years in a case that has sparked nationwide protests and talk of new Western sanctions.
Navalny, one of President Vladimir Putins most prominent critics, was arrested at the Russian border on Jan. 17 after returning from Germany where he had been recovering from a nerve agent poisoning in Russia. He accuses Putin of ordering his murder, something the Kremlin denies. It in turn has suggested that Navalny is an asset of Americas Central Intelligence Agency, a charge he rejects.
Navalny watched the hearing in Moscow get underway from inside a glass cage in the courtroom. Before proceedings began, he praised Yulia, his wife, who was present after being fined the previous day for taking part in a protest to demand his release. They said that you had seriously violated public order and were a bad girl. Im proud of you, Navalny said, via a microphone.
Outside, Reuters reporters saw riot police detain around 60 of his supporters who had gathered to offer their support.
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-politics-navalny/d-day-for-kremlin-critic-alexei-navalny-as-russian-court-considers-longer-jail-term-idUSKBN2A20N6?il=0
And to think: We could have had
all this for ourselves, if only the Satan-worshiping Pedophile Soshallusts hadn't raised such a big stink about that minor incident at the Capitol a few weeks back!