Navalny goes on trial on ‘extremism’ charges

MOSCOW: Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny went on trial on Monday on “extremism” charges that could see his prison time extended for decades as part of wider government efforts to silence dissent.

The case comes more than a year into Russia´s full-scale offensive in Ukraine, which ushered in a new wave of legal proceedings against Moscow´s critics, with many now in exile or in jail.

An AFP journalist at the maximum security IK-6 penal colony 250-km east of Moscow where the 47-year-old veteran opponent of Russian President Vladimir Putin is being held, reported that proceedings were underway.