[ad_1]
Dagbladet updates this case continually!
Placed in a glass cage inside a Moscow city courtroom, Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny is today at risk of being sentenced to three and a half years in prison.
The court will decide whether Navalny’s 2014 conditional sentence will become unconditional for failure to report.
Outside Moskovsky gorodskoi sud, the Moscow district court, there is now a massive police operation to stop any demonstration. A large number of arrests have already been reported around the court.
In the same court, Frode Berg was convicted of espionage in 2019.
Almost 100 detainees
The Russian news agency Interfaks reports that more than 200 people have been arrested in the area. At the nearest metro station, the police have set up a bus and photos from the scene show that people are being led to the bus.
At 9 a.m. Norwegian time, this bus is said to have left the site after it was full, but there will be several police buses in the area, according to the Telegram channel of the independent online newspaper Proekts.
Several journalists were also arrested at the scene, according to the Moscow Times.
Drama judge
Several Western countries have condemned Russia’s arrest and prosecution of Navalny. Therefore, diplomats from various Western embassies are in or out of court to observe the trial against Navalny.
The Moscow Times reports that as many as 18 cars with diplomatic plates have been observed parked outside the courthouse.
There have also been changes in the courtroom itself. At the last minute, the case has received a new judge, reports the Moscow Times.
Navalny himself commented on this from the glass cage. After the judge asked Navalny to appear, Navalny responded that the judge should also appear.
– I do not know who you are. Are you Judge Okuneva or someone else? Navalny asked, after which the judge introduced himself.
Massive security
Just to get out of the courthouse, the police have set up several checkpoints, and to pass them, one must have the correct documents, reports the Moscow Times.
In practice, the police have closed off the entire neighborhood and are outside every entrance to the fenced area where the city court and administration are located.
Navalny’s wife, Julia Navalnaja, arrived at the city court at 09:30, Meduza reports on Telegram. She is in the courtroom and has had the opportunity to speak to her husband through the glass cage.
– Lucio Slem
Navalny appears to be elated, despite the dire circumstances, and has repeatedly joked from the glass cage.
Among other things about his wife and her arrest.
Two weekends ago, Julia Navalnaja was arrested after participating in demonstrations in Moscow. She and tens of thousands of protesters demanded Navalny’s release, but because the demonstration had not received the necessary permits, she and several thousand other protesters were arrested for disturbing peace and order.
– Julia, they even showed you on TV in my cell. They said you disturbed order. Bad girl, I’m proud of you! Navalny told his wife, Meduza writes on his Telegram channel.
In the same jargon, Navalny turned to his lawyer and joked:
– I see you reading Twitter. Tell me what they write there, I have withdrawal symptoms.
– He may have swallowed the poison himself.
This is the case
It was in 2014 that Navalny was convicted of financial embezzlement, a verdict that Navalny and his supporters consider political. The verdict was made conditional on Navalny having to report.
And it is a breach of the duty to report that which has led the Russian prison service and the Prosecutor’s Office to request that Navalny be imprisoned.
Russian authorities believe that Navalny violated the reporting duty while in Germany. There, the opposition politician received life-saving medical treatment after being poisoned with the Novitsjok neurotoxin in August last year.
Navalny returned to Russia on January 17 and was imprisoned immediately after landing in Moscow.
Condemn Russia
– More than 50 violations
In the Norwegian 10-hour schedule, a representative of the Russian prison service, which together with the prosecution has requested to convert Navalny’s conditional sentence into an unconditional sentence, began to explain.
He said it was the opinion of the Russian prison service that Navalny had violated the terms of the suspended sentence more than 50 times.
The Prison and Probation Service believes that the violations have occurred over a long period of time and not only in connection with Navalny’s medical stay in Germany. However, their request is based on the fact that Navalny did not inform them during their stay in Germany.
Navalny’s attorneys confronted the representative of the Prison and Probation Service with this, but it was the prosecutor in the case who was asked why the Prison and Probation Service had not requested that the sentence be vacated by December 29. 2020.
The representative of the Prison and Probation Service says they were guided by “humanistic” principles and wanted to give Navalny the opportunity to change “course.”
– But Navalny never drew the correct conclusions himself and did not change his position on the court’s verdict, the representative said.
– The biggest bribe in history
Navalny replied
This caused Navalny himself to react. From the glass cage inside the courtroom, he was allowed to ask the representative of the probation service several questions.
– You say you didn’t know where he was since August. Even the president of this country said that I received treatment, did you know? Navalny asked.
The representative from the Prison and Probation Service responded:
– The period in which you received treatment is not included in the calculation.
Navalny continued:
– Explain to me how I could have fulfilled my obligations better. I ended up in a coma, but then I met my lawyers, I sent them documents where I was and with contact information. I continued the treatment, completed it, and returned to Moscow. What could I have done better?
Whether the representative from the Prison and Probation Service responded is unclear from Medusa’s court records.
Dagbladet updates this case continually!
