The wife of jailed Russian opposition leader Aleksei Navalny has demanded to be allowed to be present at her husband's "illegal and shameful" trial inside the penal colony where the outspoken Kremlin critic is being held.
Yulia Navalnaya slammed the Russian authorities in a post on Instagram on February 14, saying the case against him was "so pathetic they are afraid to hold the trial in Moscow."
"This is an illegal and shameful mock trial and the way it has been organized proves that my husband is an honest man. And they hold him in prison because he is not afraid of these authorities," Navalnaya wrote, adding that the trial was also purposely scheduled to disrupt a planned quarterly visit she is allowed with her husband.
Last week, Moscow's Lefortovo district court said its judges will travel to Correctional Colony No. 2 in the Vladimir region to try Navalny there on February 15 on charges of embezzlement from his now defunct and banned Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) and for contempt of a Moscow court.
Navalny's lawyer, Olga Mikhailova, said her client could face up to 10 years in prison if found guilty, adding that the decision to try Navalny inside the penal colony will "seriously affect" his right to defend himself in court.
"The colony is a restricted area and it is absolutely banned to bring in telephones, computers, and other gadgets. Therefore, I do not understand how the trial will proceed," Mikhailova said.
Navalny has been accused of appropriating more than $4.7 million of donations that were given to his organizations for his own personal use. He also faces up to six months in prison for a contempt-of court-charge brought about during one of his hearings last year.
Navalny has rejected the charges, calling them politically motivated.
The opposition politician was arrested in January last year upon his return from Germany, where he was recovering from a poison attack that almost killed him.
Within weeks he was handed a 2 1/2-year prison sentence for violating the terms of an earlier parole in a conviction is widely regarded as trumped-up and politically motivated.
Navalny has blamed Putin for his poisoning with a Novichok-style chemical substance. The Kremlin has denied any role in the poisoning, which along with his arrest sparked widespread condemnation and sanctions from the West.