Kremlin critic Navalny slapped with new criminal charges

Moscow : Russian authorities have levied new criminal charges against imprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny, part of a government crackdown on the corruption fighter and his beleaguered team ahead of Russia’s upcoming parliamentary election.
Russia’s Investigative Committee said Wednesday it has charged Navalny with creating a non-profit organization that infringes on people’s rights, a criminal offense punishable by up to three years in prison.
Officials alleged that Navalny’s Foundation for Fighting Corruption, which was launched 10 years ago and has since published dozens of widely watched videos exposing the alleged corruption of senior government officials, incited Russians to perform unlawful actions” by urging them to join unauthorized protests in January.
The 45-year-old Navalny is Russian President Vladimir Putin’s most ardent political foe. He was arrested in January upon returning from Germany, where he spent five months recovering from a nerve agent poisoning that he blames on the Kremlin an accusation rejected by Russian officials.
In February, Navalny was ordered to serve 2 years in prison for violating the terms of a suspended sentence from a 2014 embezzlement conviction that he dismissed as politically motivated.
His arrest and jailing sparked a wave of mass protests that appeared to pose a major challenge to the Kremlin. Authorities responded with mass arrests of demonstrators and criminal prosecutions of Navalny’s closest associates.