Moscow’s city court will hold a preliminary hearing on May 31 in a new criminal case against jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny on charges including incitement to extremism, according to official documents posted online.
Navalny, who rose to prominence by lampooning President Vladimir Putin’s elite and alleging vast corruption, said last month that an “absurd” terrorism case had been opened against him that could see him sentenced to a further 30 years in jail.
Navalny is already serving combined sentences of 11-1/2 years for fraud and contempt of court in a maximum-security penal colony, on charges that he says were trumped up to silence him. His campaigning organizations and his flagship Anti-Corruption Fund have been banned in Russia as “extremist.”
The court record said the charges against Navalny related to six different articles of the Russian criminal code including those on “rehabilitation of Nazism,” “organization of an extremist community,” making “public appeals to commit extremist activity” and inducing citizens to break the law.
The former lawyer earned admiration from the disparate opposition for voluntarily returning to Russia in 2021 from Germany, where he had been treated for what Western laboratory tests showed was an attempt to poison him with a Soviet-era nerve agent. The Kremlin denied trying to kill him and said there was no evidence he had been poisoned with such a toxin.
Last month, investigators formally linked Navalny supporters to the murder of Vladlen Tatarsky, a popular military blogger and supporter of Russia’s military campaign in Ukraine who was killed by a bomb in St. Petersburg. Navalny allies have denied any connection to the killing.
New case against jailed Kremlin critic Navalny goes to court next week
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New case against jailed Kremlin critic Navalny goes to court next week
- Alexei Navalny rose to prominence by lampooning President Vladimir Putin’s elite and alleging vast corruption
Greece, Israel to cooperate on anti-drone systems, cybersecurity, Greek minister says
- Greece and Israel operate an air training center on Greek territory
- Greece last year approved the purchase of 36 Israeli-made PULS rocket artillery systems
ATHENS: Greece will cooperate with Israel on anti-drone systems and cybersecurity, Greek Defense Minister Nikos Dendias said on Tuesday after meeting his Israeli counterpart in Athens.
“We agreed to exchange views and know-how to be able to deal with drones and in particular swarms of unmanned vehicles and groups of unmanned subsea vehicles,” Dendias said in joint statements with Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz.
“We will also work together in order to be ready to intercept cyber threats.”
With strong economic and diplomatic ties, Greece and Israel operate an air training center on Greek territory and have held joint military drills in recent years.
Greece last year approved the purchase of 36 Israeli-made PULS rocket artillery systems for about 650 million euros ($762.52 million). It has also been in talks with Israel to develop an anti-aircraft and anti-ballistic multi-layer air and drone defense system, estimated to cost about 3 billion euros.
“We are equally determined regarding another critical issue: not to allow actors who seek to undermine regional stability to gain a foothold through terror, aggression or military proxies in Syria, in Gaza, in the Aegean Sea,” Katz said.
Dendias and Katz did not say who would pose drone, cyber or other threats to their countries. But Greece and Israel both see Turkiye as a significant regional security concern.
