The sessions took place behind closed doors in the IK-6 penal colony in Melekhovo, about 250 kilometers east of Moscow. Navalny has been locked up there since January 2021.
During this trial, the staunch Kremlin critic had to answer for establishing an “extremist organization”. His anti-corruption organization FBK was already banned by the Russian authorities in 2021 for “extremism”. He risked twenty years in prison for that, which have now become nineteen.
Navalny has previously been sentenced to nine years in prison for “fraud” and two and a half years for violating his parole.
The opposition politician, who has repeatedly complained about his detention conditions, also risks being sent to a “penal colony with a special regime”. These are normally reserved for the most dangerous inmates and prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment.
Navalny, who narrowly survived a poisoning in 2020, dismisses all lawsuits against him as politically motivated. The 47-year-old politician is also internationally seen as a political prisoner.
