New terrorism charges in work against Russian opposition leader

Moscow: Alexei Navalny, the jailed Russian opposition leader, said that terrorism charges are being prepared against him and they can have him sentenced to 30 years in prison.

He is already serving sentences totalling eleven and a half years on several charges including fraud. Navalnys aides, the Kremlin critic, published his comments on Twitter and said that the government is alleging that he is committing acts of terrorism while in prison. "They have presented absurd allegations that threaten me with 30 years in prison ... that I, while in prison, commit terrorist acts."

Navalny's campaigning organisations are banned in Russia and termed "extremist". His supporters were recently linked to popular military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky. His allies have denied any connection to the bombing in St Petersburg. Tatarsky is a supporter of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

"I insist that the attempt to close the process is an attempt not just to prevent me from getting acquainted with the case, but it is also an attempt to make sure that no one finds out about it," he said while appearing in a Moscow court via video link as part of the case into extremism.

The Russian government on Wednesday said that 11 people have been put on an "international wanted list" in a case linked to Navalny, reported Reuters.

The opposition leader was jailed in 2021 when he returned to Russia from Germany. He was receiving treatment in a European country after being poisoned in Siberia in August 2020 with a nerve agent.

Navalny is a former lawyer who rose to fame a decade ago by publicly criticising President Putin's elite. He also alleged large-scale corruption. He says the current fraud and contempt of court charges he is in jail for were created to silence him.