Navalny ally detained on 'extremism' charge faces trial in Siberia

A court spokesperson said that a prominent ally of former Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny went on trial in Siberia on charges of setting up an "extremist organisation," AFP reported.

Ksenia Fadeyeva, who was head of Navalny's office in the Siberian city of Tomsk and a former lawmaker, was added to Russia's "terrorist" in January 2022 and is facing up to 12 years in prison, according to her allies.

According to her allies, Fadeyeva, 31, a former municipal deputy in the Siberian city of Tomsk, was added to Russia's "terrorist" list in January 2022 and could spend up to 12 years in prison.

She was in charge of Navalny's political office in the city, which he visited in August 2020 to boost local activists ahead of the elections and then was poisoned with the nerve agent Novichok created by the Soviet Union.

Fadeyeva and other Siberian independence supporters were elected to the Tomsk municipal assembly the following month, which was heralded as a success for the nation's opposition to Vladimir Putin's leadership.

The municipal elections were seen as a setback to the Kremlin because they were held a year before the parliamentary elections and coincided with rising public dissatisfaction over the country's economic woes, AFP reported.

However, Navalny's political organisation were designated as "extremist organisations" in 2021, putting the lives of its employees, volunteers, and supporters in danger.

Despite the fact that many of his allies had fled Russia, Fadeyeva remained in the country and was arrested in December 2021 on suspicion of establishing "an extremist" group.

Last week, a Russian court sentenced former opposition leader Navalny to 19 years in prison after he was found guilty on a series of new charges including extremism, according to his spokesperson.

Navalny is already serving jail time on embezzlement charges which are regarded as politically motivated according to his friends, AFP reported.

"Alexey Navalny was sentenced to 19 years at a maximum security penal colony," spokesperson Kira Yarmysh said.

Navalny previously stated that he anticipates a lengthy ruling from a Russian court and referred to his arrest in the nation after returning from Germany — where he was poisoned — as a "Stalinist" new trial, The News reported.

"It will be a long term. That's what they call a 'Stalinist' term," Alexei Navalny said in a statement as he was awaiting verdict.

Navalny is currently serving a nine-year sentence for embezzlement whereas the prosecution asked for a 20-year sentence, which his supporters regard as retribution for his political efforts.

The former Russian opposition leader said a heavy sentence's "main purpose is to intimidate. You, not me".

Navalny has a huge following on social media, where he has posted videos exposing alleged corruption among the Russian elite and mobilised massive anti-government protests.

He once again called on Russians to fight back against repression.

"When the sentence is announced, please think about only one, really important thought — what else can I personally do to resist?" he said. "There is no shame in choosing the safest way to resist. There is shame in doing nothing," he said.

In 2021 his organisation was declared extremist by authorities, putting employees, volunteers, and supporters at greater risk of prosecution.