Jailed Russian opposition leader and fierce Vladimir Putin critic Alexei Navalny said authorities have opened a new criminal case against him, potentially more than doubling his sentence.
Navalny is already serving prison terms totaling 11-1/2 years for fraud, contempt of court and parole violations, all of which he rejects as bogus charges intended to silence him.
The new charges, Navalny said, were for promoting terrorism and extremism – something he scoffed at in a series of sarcastic social media posts on Thursday in which he compared himself to the fictional nemesis of Sherlock Holmes by writing,
“I am a genius of the underworld. Professor Moriarty is no match for me. You all thought I had been isolated in prison for two years, but it turns out I was actively committing crimes….”
Navalny's spokeswoman said the case is related to a YouTube channel called "Popular Politics" that was launched by his allies after he had already been in prison for a year.
Navalny has long been a thorn in Putin's side, campaigning against endemic corruption in Russia in witty and slickly produced videos that drew huge audiences on social media.
In 2020, he was poisoned with a nerve agent during a trip to Siberia. The Kremlin denied involvement.
Navalny was arrested for parole violations when he returned to Russia at the start of 2021.
He has called Russia’s invasion of Ukraine "stupid" and "built on lies” and has continued to attack Putin.
There was no immediate official confirmation of the new case from Russia’s Investigative Committee.
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