Vladimir Putin is “crazy” because he started his “stupid war” in Ukraine, said opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who is in prison.
The 45-year-old Kremlin critic made the remarks during a court hearing Tuesday, in which he unsuccessfully tried to appeal a nine-year prison sentence he said was politically motivated.
In late March, Mr Navalny, who was already serving a 30-month sentence, received an additional conviction for fraud and contempt of court. Human rights groups described the case as a “fake trial”.
Speaking via video link Tuesday, Mr Navalny said the prosecution’s “facts” were untrue, comparing them to the lies Putin used to justify his war in Ukraine.
Opposing the Russian president’s claim that he was “denazifying” Ukraine, Mr Navalny said: “A madman has driven his nails into Ukraine and I don’t know what he wants to do with it – this mad thief.”
The dissident added that Russia is ruled by criminals who should be seen as enemies of the people.
His spokesman, Kira Yarmish, wrote on Twitter that he was also facing new criminal cases designed by Vladimir Putin “to keep Navalny in prison as long as he can.”
“The task of the whole world now is to make sure that Putin is defeated as soon as possible,” she added.
Mr Navalny encouraged the Russian public to oppose the Russian president, even if they risked losing their freedom.
Shortly after Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine on February 24, Mr Navalny called him a “little crazy king”, urging the public not to make Russia a “nation of frightened cowards”.
“I call on everyone to take to the streets and fight for peace,” he said. “If we have to fill prisons and police vans to prevent war, we will fill prisons and police vans.
“Everything has a price and now, in the spring of 2022, we have to pay that price.
World leaders, including Boris Johnson, have praised Mr Navalny’s courage in recent months, with the prime minister saying he “continues to show incredible courage in opposing the Putin regime”.
“I think we have seen fictitious accusations that Putin is using against those who seek to hold him accountable or those who seek to get involved in the democratic process, and this is unfortunately a continuation of that,” he said. during Mr Navalny’s last sentence.
Mr Navalny was arrested in January 2021 after returning to Russia from Germany, where he was being treated for poisoning with a nerve agent believed to have been ordered by the Kremlin.
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