Navalny faces new criminal charges over anti-corruption foundation

Moscow, Aug 11 (EFE).- Russian jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny is facing new criminal charges for allegedly establishing an organization that violates Russian citizens’ rights, the national investigation committee announced Wednesday.

According to the investigation, Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation – declared and outlawed as an extremist organization by Russian authorities – incited Russian citizens to break the law by taking part in unauthorized protests in January.

The new criminal charges are punishable by three years in jail.

Navalny is already serving a two and a half year sentence after he was arrested in January on his return from Germany, where he was recovering from a nerve agent poisoning.

The imprisonment of the opposition leader sparked massive protests across the country in late January, during which thousands of people were detained.

Navalny accuses Russian President Vladimir Putin of having ordered the FSB domestic intelligence service to assassinate him.EFE

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