By Madeline Schiesser
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

KIROV, Russia – The embezzlement trial of prominent opposition leader and anticorruption blogger Aleksei Navalny, 36, began last Wednesday for forty minutes, only to be adjourned for a week to give the defense more time to review the twenty-nine-volume case file.  The trial, taking place in Kirov, a twelve hour train ride northeast from Moscow where Navalny and others interested reside, is the first against such a high-level opposition figure since Soviet times.  Navalny established himself as the most eloquent of the protest leaders with a huge Internet following with sharply-written blogs [eng] and corruption exposes.

Accusing President Vladimir Putin of orchestrating the trial, Navalny claims the best outcome he can probably expect is a suspended sentence, which would still render him ineligible for public office; he had expressed an interest earlier this month in one day running for the presidency.  Before heading to Kirov Navalny said, “I think it’s clear to any objective observer that I’m not guilty.”  However, he continued, “I am absolutely certain that it will end in a conviction for me.”

Chief among the accusations against Navalny is the theft of 16 million rubles ($510,000) from a timber firm in Kirov, when he was working for Kirov’s governor.  If convicted, the crime carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.  Regional Investigators twice looked into the alleged theft and closed the cased in Navalny’s favor for lack of evidence, only for the case to be reopened by Moscow.

Furthermore, Navalny has also been accused of stealing 100 million rubles ($3.2 million) from the now-defunct Union of the Right Cause Party, unlawfully privatizing a distillery in the Kirov region, and, along with his brother Oleg, defrauding a local branch of cosmetics maker Yves Rocher.

The images painted by the charges contrast strongly with the man who first came to prominence by exposing corruption in state-controlled companies on his blog and with published articles.  Navalny went on to publicize the undeclared properties and bank accounts of government officials.  Officials no fear the idea of being exposed in his blog.

Additionally, a fifth investigation was opened on Thursday, after the adjournment, as Navalny was traveling back to Moscow by the twelve-hour train.  The new investigation alleges Navalny and his convinced the Multi-Industry Processing Company (MPK) into signing a disadvantageous contract with them, and then pocketing the money.

According to Political analyst Pavel Salin, investigators had been ordered to assemble an “ironclad” case. “Four charges weren’t enough, so they created a fifth,” he said; suggesting the government pressured MPK into filing the complaint.

Navalny has dismissed the charges as “ridiculous” and, believing the public to be the fairer judge, posted all the case materials online.  He explained that “There are bank documents, and we show those documents to everybody: to the investigation, to the public, to everyone. And everybody, apart from the investigation… said, ‘oh God this has been totally fabricated.’ But the investigation is not interested in this.”

Should Navalny be convicted, he could face up to 10 years in prison.  Even if he receives a suspended sentence, he would still lose his law license, from which he derives most of his income, and would be ineligible to ever run for public office, as dictated by a sweeping elections reform bill recently granted preliminary approval.

Navalny is certain that the charges against him are politically motivated, designed to silence him over his criticism of Putin.  Earlier this month, a spokesman for Russia’s Investigative Committee admitted in an interview that normally local authorities would have handled “banal embezzlement” investigations, but Navalny’s  case became federal because of Navalny’s fierce antigovernment activities.  Vladimir Markin said when someone “teases the authorities,” it attracts the Investigative Committee’s attention and the case is expedited.

Although Konstantin Zaitsev, the senior official at the court, denies governmental pressure for a guilty verdict—”If there is no proof, he will be acquitted”— Navalny’s prospects for acquittal do not look good.  More than 99 percent of Russian trials end with a guilty verdict, and the presiding judge, Sergei Blinov, has issued 130 guilty verdicts and no acquittals in the last two years.  Furthermore, Judge Blinov has refused to hold any preliminary hearings, which Navalny’s lawyers say is illegal.

However, Judge Blinov did grant the defense a week adjournment to better prepare, although the defense had requested a month.  The trial will resume on April 24.

Russian media has portrayed Navalny’s popularity bleakly, pointing out that many people outside urban areas are unfamiliar with him.  However, his core among the middle class and urban youth is strong.  Nevertheless, his recognition is growing, and this trial will not only increase Navalny’s name, but send a message the Moscow is afraid of a blogger with a cult following who made himself first known attacking corruption online.

“About thirty per cent of people here have heard of him, and of those, only a few know the details of the case,” says Nikolai Lyaskin, one of Mr Navalny’s associates, explaining the political climate in the Kirov region as the trial began. “It’s not a case of being pro-Putin or anti-Putin, people have just been put into a state where they simply don’t care about politics and assume that everyone is cynical and corrupt. We are trying to tell them that here they have a chance to look at things for themselves and make up their own minds.”

Even so, as Navalny’s trial began, he received much support from opposition leaders and government critics.

“Everyone who came here today knows that Navalny is innocent of the charges that the state has filed against him. But we also know that despite his innocence, he will be convicted,” human rights leader and former dissident Lyudmila Alexeyeva, 85, told the crowd in Kirov.

Opposition lawmaker Dmitry Gudkov, who was also in Kirov, condemned the trial.  “I came here to support Aleksei because I think this case is political and the investigation is biased. The case is being fabricated in front of our own eyes,” Gudkov said.

Opposition leader Boris Nemtsov was also present in the courtroom.  “There was no transgression [in Navalny’s actions], period,” he said. “It is all an order from above, it is all about politics; it is all about revenge. They just want to jail him to scare the others and, of course, to neutralize Navalny himself.”

Finally, Navalny told reporters: “We will definitely win this case. No matter what the ruling is, I am absolutely confident that we will prove our innocence and it will be clear to everybody that this is a political trial.”

For further information, please see:

Moscow Times – New Charge Makes Five Against Navalny – 19 April 2013

RFE/RL – Russian Opposition Leader’s Trial Adjourned In Kirov – 18 April 2013

The Independent – ‘This Case is Nonsense’: Defiant Anti-Corruption Blogger Alexei Navalny Goes on Trial as Vladimir Putin Brings his Biggest Critic to the Dock – in Russia’s Dissident Heartland – 17 April 2013

Moscow Times – Ahead of Trial, Navalny Has Jail Bag Packed – 17 April 2013

RFE/RL – The Trial Of The Decade – 16 April 2013

RFE/RL – Russia Admits Politics Played Role In Navalny Case – 12 April 2013