Russian opposition politician Alexey Navalny says he could spend life in prison under new terrorism charges

Russian opposition politician Alexey Navalny said Wednesday that the Russian authorities have opened a new “terrorism case” against him that will be heard by a military court.

“They’ve made absurd allegations against me that could threaten me with 30 years in prison,” Navalny said while appearing over video link in a Moscow court as part of an ongoing extremism case against him. “[An investigator in the case] said yesterday that there’s a separate terrorism case based on charges that I, while in prison, am committing terrorist attacks.”

Earlier, the court granted investigators’ request to hold Wednesday’s court session behind closed doors.

Update: The independent media outlet Mediazona reported that the court hearing the extremism case against Navalny has given him 10 days to familiarize himself with the case documents, which fill 196 volumes.