Russian court announces trial of opposition leader Alexey Navalny
Source: The Guardian
A provincial Russian court has announced it will launch the trial of Alexey Navalny on 17 April, in a case widely believed to be targeted at silencing the popular opposition leader.
The case against Navalny, one of the loudest critics of Vladimir Putin, threatens to revive the tensions that swept Moscow last year, when thousands of people took to the streets of the capital to protest against the powerful president's longtime reign. Navalny helped organise the protests and has continued to attack Putin and his supporters via investigations into corruption posted on his popular blog.
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Navalny, 36, has been charged with stealing 10,000 cubic metres of timber and causing loses of 16m roubles (£335.5m) to the regional Kirov government while acting as an adviser to its liberal governor in 2009. Navalny, who has built his reputation on battling corruption, has vehemently denied the charges. He faces up to 10 years in jail.
"It's absolutely clear that this is politically motivated," said his lawyer, Olga Mikhailova. "He did nothing illegal – and there is not one piece of evidence to conflict with this point of view."
Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/apr/03/russian-court-trial-alexey-navalny
He says it's inevitable he'll be convicted - Russian courts almost always do.
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