Imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny made an appearance in a Moscow court Thursday, his first since the dissident ended a hunger strike undertaken in demand of better medical care in prison.
Navalny appeared virtually at his appeal after being convicted in February on defamation charges for insulting a Russian World War II veteran. A judge upheld the defamation conviction in the hearing, which Navalny used to speak about his condition following the strike and to criticize the Russian government.
“I am just a horrible skeleton,” Navalny told the court where his wife, Yulia, was present, according to CBS News.
His weight was down to 159 pounds, and he hadn’t been that size since around the seventh grade, he added.
ALEXEI NAVALNY TO END HUNGER STRIKE
Navalny had requested carrots and apples from the prison to help him recover from his hunger strike but wasn’t given them, he reportedly said.
Navalny began the hunger strike in March, saying his complaints of acute back and thigh pain were ignored by prison officers.
“I really need a doctor. Every convict has the right (by law) to invite a specialist to examine and consult him,” Navalny wrote in the letter to the prison’s governor.
Navalny also took on Russian President Vladimir Putin and other officials during the hearing Thursday, apparently employing the folktale The Emperor’s New Clothes to take shots at the Kremlin and called the prosecutors and the judge “traitors,” CNN reported.
“I’d like to say, my dear court, that your king is naked. Already, millions of people are screaming about it because it is so obvious,” Navalny said.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
In January, Navalny was arrested after returning to Russia from Germany, where he was receiving treatment for nerve agent poisoning, for which the State Department blamed the Russian government. Navalny was sentenced to 2.5 years in prison for violating the terms of his parole.
