Russia puts Navalny lawyers on trial

MOSCOW, Russia

A Russian court on Thursday put three lawyers who used to represent the late opposition leader Alexei Navalny on trial over “extremism” charges.

Navalny died in unclear circumstances in an Arctic prison colony in February, where he was serving a 19-year sentence for leading an “extremist” organisation.

Since his death, Russian authorities have escalated a campaign against the Kremlin critic’s backers, allies and family — arresting journalists who covered his court hearings and adding his wife, Yulia Navalnaya, to a “terrorists and extremists” blacklist.

The trial of three of his former lawyers — Vadim Kobzev, Alexei Liptser and Igor Sergunin — opened Thursday in a court in the Vladimir region east of Moscow, AFP journalists in the courtroom reported.

The three stood in a metal cage for defendants at the start of the hearing, before the judge granted the prosecution’s request to move the session behind closed doors, ejecting public spectators and journalists from the hall.

Alexei Navalny

Arrested in October 2023, the trio are accused of participating in an “extremist” organisation, charges which carry a maximum of six years.

Investigators say they passed messages between Navalny and his associates in the outside world, helping the Kremlin critic continue his outlawed political activity from behind bars.

At the time, Navalny’s team alleged the arrest of the lawyers was an attempt to isolate Navalny even further in prison, where he spent most of the time in solitary confinement.

At a pre-trial hearing, Sergunin pleaded guilty, independent media reported, while Kobzev and Liptser rejected the charges.

The Kremlin has rejected accusations from Navalny’s allies that President Vladimir Putin ordered him killed in jail.

The West and Moscow were in talks about freeing Navalny in a prisoner exchange when he died.

Over a decade of opposing the Kremlin, the charismatic opposition leader drew tens of thousands to anti-government street demonstrations.

He nearly died in 2020 after being poisoned on a campaign trip to Siberia ahead of regional elections.

An investigation by Navalny’s team, Western and Russian media outlets connected the assassination attempt to Russian FSB agents.

Most of his former allies, including his wife Navalnaya who has pledged to continue his work, live in exile.