Russian protest leader Alexei Navalny speaks with journalists after arriving in court for a hearing of his case in the provincial northern city of Kirov, yesterday.
KIROV, Russia: Russian protest leader Alexei Navalny accused President Vladimir Putin yesterday of seeking “political revenge” against him after a court refused to throw out what he says are trumped-up charges.
On day two of his trial on theft charges that are punishable by up to 10 years in jail, the anti-corruption campaigner and protest organiser said Judge Sergei Blinov was biased. Navalny urged Blinov to recuse himself and send the charges back to state prosecutors for review.
The judge rejected both demands and pressed on with a trial in the drab industrial city of Kirov which Navalny says is part of a clampdown on the opposition since Putin’s return to the presidency last May.
“First, this is political revenge for my and my foundation’s investigations in the fight against corruption,” Navalny, 36, told a packed courtroom after the judge announced his decisions.
“Second, it is political revenge for my and my supporters’ campaign to ‘Vote for any party except United Russia’,” he said, referring to his opposition to Putin’s party that he has branded “swindlers and thieves”.
Addressing the judge calmly and clearly, and occasionally turning to face the court, he said: “The most important purpose of this case is to squeeze me out of the legal political arena.”
Navalny, an organiser of the biggest protests since Putin rose to power 13 years ago, is accused of stealing 16 million roubles ($500,000) from a timbre firm that he was advising in 2009 while working for the liberal Kirov regional governor.
The most prominent opposition leader to be tried in post-Soviet Russia, Navalny says he has done nothing wrong but is convinced he will not receive a fair trial.
Even a suspended sentence would bar him from elections, although opinion polls show little support for him outside big cities, meaning his ability to challenge Putin now is limited.
The Kremlin denies interfering with the judiciary or clamping down on opponents to crush dissent.
But two human rights groups issued damning reports on Putin’s first year back as president. Amnesty International accused him of a witch-hunt against public dissenters and Human Rights Watch described the toughest crackdown on opposition since the Soviet Union broke up in 1991.
Tall and clean-cut, Navalny has been a thorn in the side of the government since starting to campaign online against state corruption in 2007.
Reuters
