Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny appeared on a Pobeda plane after landing at Moscow Sheremetyevo Airport on January 17, 2021. (Kirill Kudryavtsev, AFP)
The investigation committee responsible for investigating major crimes said on Wednesday that the convicted Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny is facing a new criminal charge for establishing an organization that incites Russians to break the law.
Navalny is President Vladimir Putin’s most fierce critic in the country. He has already served 2-1/2 years in prison for fabricated parole violations. He was arrested in January after flying back from Germany, while he was recovering from nerve agent poisoning.
The new offence carries a maximum sentence of three years’ imprisonment.
Before the parliamentary elections in September, the authorities severely cracked down on opposition activists.
Read also | Russian court sentenced Navalny brothers to one year probation
The investigation committee said in a statement that Navalny and his allies used his anti-corruption foundation to call on Russians to participate in unauthorized protests in January, which the authorities said were illegal.
A Russian court declared Navalny’s anti-corruption foundation and regional movement groups as “extremists” in June, effectively banning their activities.
The Commission of Inquiry on Tuesday announced a new criminal investigation of two close allies of Navalny as they raised funds for his political network.
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