Russian court starts trial of opposition leader Navalny that could keep him locked up for decades

MELEKHOVO, Russia (AP) — A Russian court on Monday opened a new trial of imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny that could keep him behind bars for decades.

The trial is taking place at a maximum security prison in Melekhovo, 250 kilometers (150 miles) east of Moscow, where Navalny — the Kremlin’s arch foe — is serving a nine-year sentence for fraud and contempt of court.

Navalny, 47, who exposed official corruption and organized major anti-Kremlin protests, was arrested in January 2021 upon returning to Moscow after recuperating in Germany from nerve agent poisoning that he blamed on the Kremlin.

Navalny has said that the new extremism charges which he rejected as “absurd” could keep him in prison for another 30 years. He said an investigator told him that he would also face a separate military court trial on terrorism charges that could potentially carry a life sentence.