Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny on Friday said that he’s been informed that he’s facing new criminal charges as he serves his decades-long imprisonment in a Russian penal colony.
The opposition activist, 47, has already been sentenced to more than 30 years following convictions for offenses including extremism, which he has consistently denied. He has also spent extended periods in solitary confinement over the past two years for a variety of alleged infringements.
Comments from Navalny posted by his associates Friday on Telegram claim that he is now facing a new prosecution under Article 214 of Russia’s penal code, which pertains to vandalism. No further details were provided about his alleged crime. “I have no idea what article 214 is, and there’s nowhere to look. You’ll know before I do,” Navalny said in the post, according to a Reuters translation.
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“They really do initiate a new criminal case against me every three months. Rarely does an inmate confined to a solitary cell for over a year have such a vibrant social and political existence.”
The new charges come four months after Navalny was convicted of new extremist activity charges. He was handed another 19 years in addition to the 11-and-a-half years he was already serving. Navalny denied the allegations and claimed the charges were politically motivated.
Navalny has long accused the Kremlin and Russian President Vladimir Putin of attempting to silence him. In 2020, Navalny was poisoned in Siberia with what Western laboratories determined to be a nerve agent. After recovering in Germany from the near-fatal attack, Navalny voluntarily returned to Russia in 2021 and was immediately detained upon arrival.
