The court rejected Alexei Navalny's request for another lawyer, Vladimir Voronin, because Voronin is defending someone accused of extremism connected to Navalny.
Even though Navalny is accused of contempt of court and fraud, the court believed that Chanysheva and Navalny's cases are linked, so Voronin can't defend Navalny. This was reported by “Mediazona”.
Lawyer Vladimir Voronin himself is at the walls of IK-2 for a session of the Lefortovo court. The judge clarified that Voronin was informed in advance that he wouldn't be able to enter the case.
Navalny argued that the cases are different and Voronin should be allowed to defend him. He questioned the technical issue and the principled position, emphasizing their current exotic circumstances during the meeting.
Lawyer Olga Mikhailova mentioned that there was communication between the court and the investigator, who had completed the investigation but not the extremism case.
The defense team also lamented other restrictions. They were not allowed to bring equipment with case materials into the courtroom under the threat of not being admitted to the meeting. Navalny believes that his right to interrogate witnesses and rely on the case is violated.
A criminal case on fraud with the money of FBK donors was initiated at the end of 2020. The investigation believes that Navalny spent a significant amount for personal purposes.
According to Navalny’s team, the total amount of embezzlement that Navalny is charged with is 2,693,503 rubles, whereas the TFR releases never mentioned this amount.
Navalny insists that the fraud case was fabricated and he never spent the funds on personal needs.
A criminal case of contempt of court was initiated as a result of the trial of insulting veteran Ignat Artemenko. The reason for initiating the case was that during the trial, Navalny repeatedly got into a skirmish with the judge, which the state prosecutor considered contempt of court.
The lawyers also focused on the fact that Navalny is being tried in a prison uniform, and not in civilian clothes, and because of this, he a priori develops the image of a criminal. “I don’t understand why I should be judged in a robe? I am the only such person in Russia, and I am tired of this robe. But that’s not the point, they keep me in a robe, because they need to show me on TV in a baggy robe. I have civilian clothes. I don’t need a sequined tailcoat. T-shirts and jeans will be enough,” Navalny said.
