- Title: Russia announces new criminal charge against Navalny
- Date: 11th August 2021
- Summary: VLADIMIR REGION, RUSSIA (FILE - MAY 26, 2021) (REUTERS) KREMLIN CRITIC, ALEXEI NAVALNY, APPEARING ON COURT VIA VIDEO-LINK NAVALNY SEEN ON COURT TV SCREEN VARIOUS OF COURTROOM MEDIA VARIOUS OF NAVALNY SEEN ON COURT TV SCREEN VLADIMIR, RUSSIA (FILE - MAY 11, 2021) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF VLADIMIR PENAL COLONY NUMBER THREE WHERE NAVALNY IS BEING HELD
- Embargoed: 25th August 2021 14:34
- Keywords: Kremlin Moscow Navalny Russia opposition politics
- Location: INTERNET / VLADIMIR AND VLADIMIR REGION, RUSSIA
- City: INTERNET / VLADIMIR AND VLADIMIR REGION, RUSSIA
- Country: Russia
- Topics: Crime/Law/Justice,Europe
- Reuters ID: LVA002EPU5P3B
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny faces a new criminal charge of establishing an organization that incited Russians to break the law, the Investigative Committee, which probes major crimes, said on Wednesday (August 11).
Navalny, President Vladimir Putin's fiercest domestic critic, is already serving a 2-1/2-year sentence for parole violations he calls trumped up. He was arrested in January after he flew back from Germany where he had been recovering from a nerve agent poisoning.
The new crime is punishable by up to three years in jail.
Authorities have cracked down hard on opposition activists ahead of parliamentary elections in September.
The Investigative Committee said in a statement that Navalny and his allies used his Anti-Corruption Foundation to call on Russians to take part in unauthorized protests in January that authorities said were illegal.
A court in Russia declared Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation and regional campaign groups "extremist" in June, effectively outlawing their activity.
The Investigative Committee on Tuesday announced a new criminal investigation into two close Navalny allies for raising funds for his political network.
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