Navalny is Back to Trial in the Libel Case

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny appeared in court again in Moscow on Friday. President Vladimir Putin’s well-known critic risks jail time in a libel case.

The session is accompanied by strict security measures. Riot police are guarding the court in the Russian capital.

Navalny is in a glass cage in court. Last year he had criticized fellow countrymen who, in a video message, spoke out in favour of constitutional changes that the Kremlin wanted to make. The opposition leader called the people in the video, including an elderly war veteran, “traitors” on the Internet and a disgrace to their country. The authorities decided to prosecute him for those statements.

According to his lawyer, Internet defamation can be punished with a two-year prison sentence, but Navalny does not have to fear this. The maximum sentence was lower when the opposition leader sent the message criticizing his fellow countrymen.

The law was only amended later so that stricter penalties can be imposed. It is still unclear whether the judge shares that view.

The opposition leader was also recently sentenced to 3 years in a penal colony in a separate criminal case. He had failed to report to the Russian authorities while on parole. Navalny was recovering in Germany at the time after being poisoned with a nerve agent. His arrest in Russia has sparked widespread street protests and international criticism.