Court dismisses Navalny’s appeal against lack of access to writing materials in prison

Russia’s Supreme Court has on Thursday dismissed an appeal by jailed Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny against restrictions imposed on access to writing materials in prison, according to Russian independent news site Mediazona.

Navalny, who attended the hearing via video link, had been challenging the restrictions imposed on access to writing materials in prisons “not only for himself, but for all prisoners” during a hearing at the Supreme Court in Moscow, his spokesperson Kira Yarmysh said.

“Aleksey is trying to achieve the right to correspondence, and not only for himself, but for all prisoners,” she said in a post on her official Twitter account.

The decision came as Navalny is facing a new trial on charges of “extremism” that could result in his prison sentence being extended by decades.

A court spokesperson said Monday that the trial will take place behind closed doors.

Navalny is already serving sentences totaling 11-and-a-half years in a maximum security facility on fraud and other charges that he says were trumped up.

He and his supporters claim that his arrest and imprisonment were politically motivated, intended to silence his criticism of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Just hours after the trial began, Navalny announced the start of a campaign aimed at turning Russians against the war in Ukraine.

In comments posted to his Twitter account, Navalny said the “absurd” charges could lead to him serving a further 30 years behind bars.