Navalny is accused by investigators of taking more than $4.8 million in public funds from the organizations that he formed.
The trial of Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny has begun behind closed doors in a prison colony outside Moscow, a hearing that has been branded a "sham" by human rights organizations.
Navalny appeared in a prison uniform inside Pokrov's highest security jail on Tuesday, according to a journalist for the AFP news agency who obtained the video connection.
A photograph of him hugging his wife, Yulia Navalnaya, with guards standing on each side was released.
Navalnaya had sought access to the closed-door hearings a day earlier, claiming that the new case is "so pitiful" that the Russian authorities are frightened to conduct the trial in their own city.
Ahead of the event, Navalny, a prominent anti-corruption campaigner who has been a vocal critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, is serving a two and a half year sentence on old fraud charges that have been described as "arbitrary and manifestly unreasonable" by the European Court of Human Rights.
The present hearing is related to fresh allegations brought against the opposition leader in December 2020, when the 45-year-old was recuperating in Germany after nearly escaping a nerve agent attack in the United States.
Navalny said that the Russian government was behind the assault, something the Kremlin has categorically rejected on several previous occasions.
Investigators have now accused Navalny of stealing more than $4.8 million in public contributions intended for organizations he formed and utilizing the money for his own benefit.
If he is proven guilty, his penalty may be up to ten years in prison.
Amnesty International condemned the session as a “sham trial, attended by prison guards rather than the media”.
A statement issued on Monday said, "It is clear from the Russian authorities' actions that they seek to prevent Navalny from leaving jail any time soon."
The trial takes place at a time when tensions are rising over Russia's military buildup along its eastern border with Ukraine.
Amid an uproar of meetings and intensive diplomacy, German chancellor Olaf Scholz came in Moscow on Tuesday with a goal of defusing tensions in the region.
Navalny's supporters have urged Chancellor Angela Merkel to bring up the politician's fate during his discussions with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"Germany stands for peace and justice," said Kira Yarmysh, a spokesman for Navalny, in a statement posted on Twitter.
"And today, more than ever, its position on this issue is critical. It tells everything about the Putin administration and the possibilities for negotiating with him that the number one political prisoner is being tried directly in prison."
In a statement, Maria Pevchikh, another important Navalny ally, claimed that the trial was "purposefully scheduled to coincide with the most tense week of the Ukrainian crisis."
In a tweet, she said that "they are going to lengthen his sentence for another 15 years while everyone is busy with something greater than themselves."
Aside from that, Navalny may face up to six months in prison for contempt of court, which occurred at one of his hearings last year while he was in prison on previous fraud charges.
SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES
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