POKROV, Russia, Feb 16, 2022 (BSS/AFP) - Imprisoned Kremlin critic Alexei
Navalny said he would keep challenging Russia's leadership during the opening
of a new fraud trial that could extend his jail term by more than a decade.

  Navalny appeared at the beginning of the hearing Tuesday via video link
wearing a prison uniform and flanked by guards at the makeshift court inside
his penal colony, smiling and embracing his wife.

  US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he was "troubled by dubious new
charges" against Navalny and called for his release.

  "Navalny and his associates are targeted for their work to shine a light on
official corruption," Blinken tweeted.

  "This time, he goes to trial in a penal colony, out of public view. Russian
authorities should release Aleksei Navalny and end their harassment and
prosecution of his supporters."

  German Chancellor Olaf Scholz earlier said the new case was "incompatible"
with the rule of law, speaking during a press conference with Russian leader
Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

  The 45-year-old opposition leader has already been behind bars for a year,
after surviving a poison attack he and Washington blame on the Kremlin.

  He is serving out a two-and-a-half year sentence on old embezzlement
charges, but the fresh charges could see his time behind bars significantly
extended.

  "You're going to increase my term indefinitely. What can we do about it?"
Navalny said during the court hearing.

  "The activities of people are more important than the fate of one
individual. I'm not afraid."

  The new case was launched in December 2020, when Navalny was recovering in
Germany after he was attacked with Soviet-designed poison. The Russian
authorities have repeatedly denied any involvement.

  - 'Illegal persecution' -

  Rights groups have criticised authorities for holding the closed-door
hearing inside the maximum-security prison in Pokrov, 100 kilometres (60
miles) east of Moscow. Investigators accuse Navalny of stealing for personal
use more than $4.7 million in donations that were given to his political
organisations. The charges carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.

  A prosecutor during the trial accused Navalny and his allies of "misleading
citizens" with the "deliberate" aim of stealing funds.

  Navalny grew a wide following among liberal-leaning Russians with videos
exposing the corruption among the elite. Many of the investigations gained
millions of views online.

  Navalny's allies decried the trial as a sham and his lawyer said it came as
part of Kremlin efforts to remove him from political life.

  "We believe the persecution of Navalny is illegal, is distinctly political
in nature, and aimed at discrediting and removing him from political
activity," lawyer Olga Mikhailova said.

  - 'Incompatible' with rule of law -

  The start of the trial comes during a week of intensive talks between
Russia and the West over Ukraine, with Scholz the latest leader in Moscow for
talks with Putin.

  The German chancellor condemned legal proceedings against Navalny,
following appeals earlier from the opposition leader's allies to raise his
case with Putin.

  "My position on the Navalny case is very clear: his judgement is
incompatible with the principles of the rule of law and I have expressed this
view on many occasions," Scholz said.

  Navalny was treated by doctors in Berlin and Germany blamed his near-fatal
poisoning on the Kremlin. Former chancellor Angela Merkel used her final
visit to Moscow last year to ask Putin to free Navalny.

  On the eve of the hearing Amnesty International criticised the "sham trial,
attended by prison guards rather than the media".

  "It's obvious that the Russian authorities intend to ensure that Navalny
doesn't leave prison any time soon," it said on Monday.

  In separate charges, Navalny also faces up to six months in prison if
convicted of contempt of court.

  Navalny's poisoning and arrest sparked widespread condemnation abroad as
well as sanctions from Western capitals.

  After his arrest, Navalny's political organisations across the country were
declared "extremist" and shuttered, while many key aides fled Russia fearing
prosecution.