Russian dissident Alexei Navalny appeared in court on Tuesday, where he could be sentenced to years in prison.
Navalny, one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s most vocal critics, has been jailed in Moscow since returning to his country on Jan. 17, after spending months in Germany recovering from being poisoned with a Soviet-era nerve agent. Upon arrival, the 44-year-old was immediately arrested and put in jail, having been accused of failing to meet his parole terms under a 2014 suspended sentence for embezzlement. Russian authorities are looking to turn his suspended sentence into a 3 1/2 year prison sentence.
In Tuesday’s court hearing, Navalny asked the court how he should have better fulfilled his probationary obligations given he was in a coma.
“Can you explain to me how else I was supposed to fulfill the terms of my probation and notify where I am?” Navalny asked.
“Coma?” he said after a prison service representative said he should’ve provided documentation for failing to meet his probation requirements. “Why are you sitting here and telling the court you didn’t know where I was? I fell into a coma, then I was in the ICU, then in rehabilitation. I contacted my lawyer to send you a notice. You had the address, my contact details. What else could I have done to inform you?”
“The president of our country said live on air he let me go to get treatment in Germany, and you didn’t know that too?” Navalny added.
Navalny’s lawyers said they don’t believe they have a good chance to win in court.
Since Navalny’s jail sentence, a handful of world governments have come out in support of the opposition leader. The United States and leaders of the Group of Seven called for his freedom and the release of other peaceful protesters arrested in Russia.
“The U.S. condemns the persistent use of harsh tactics against peaceful protesters and journalists by Russian authorities for a second week straight,” tweeted Secretary of State Antony Blinken. “We renew our call for Russia to release those detained for exercising their human rights, including Aleksey Navalny.”
Tens of thousands of protesters gathered throughout the country demanding Navalny’s freedom last weekend, while authorities detained several of the opposition leader’s allies. Allies of the dissident have called for more demonstrations across the country.
