A Russian court has begun a yet another trial of Russia's jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny on slander charges for comments he wrote on Twitter about several people who appeared in a pro-Kremlin video, as was reported by RadioFree Europe.
The new trial came just three days after the Kremlin critic was sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison for violating the terms of a suspended sentence handed down in a widely criticized embezzlement case. Navalny will serve 2 years and 8 months of the sentence, according to the ruling.
Now, according to the Article 128.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, Navalny is charged with slandering a World War Two veteran who took part in the promotional video in support of last year's constitutional amendments that cleared the way for President Vladimir Putin to run for two more terms in office after 2024 if he wants.
According to the Mediazone, Navalny will be brought to trial from the pre-trial detention centre, where he was locked up after the abolition of his suspended sentence in the Yves Rocher case.
The RIA Novosti Telegram channel reported a British Embassy representative in the courthouse.
“In the courtyard of the Babushkinsky Court, there is a car with British diplomatic plates. The British Embassy confirmed that a British diplomat arrived at the Navalny court session, calling it "absolutely standard practice" – the agency reported.
A car with French diplomatic plates also was noticed near the Babushkinsky Court building, but it left soon.
According to Apostrophe, Sergei Maximishin, a doctor who treated Alexei Navalny, suddenly died in Russia last August. He was Deputy Chief Doctor for Anesthesiology and Resuscitation in the Omsk Ambulance Hospital No. 1, where Navalny was delivered immediately after the poisoning.