MOSCOW - Russian authorities charged Alexei Navalny, one of President Vladimir Putin's fiercest critics, with theft on Tuesday, threatening him with a 10-year prison sentence as the Kremlin ramps up a crackdown on dissent. Navalny rejected the charges as "weird" and baseless.
Navalny, a 36-year-old anti-corruption crusader and popular blogger, has played a key role in rallying Russia's young Internet generation against Putin's rule. Over the winter, the lawyer spearheaded a series of rallies in Moscow that drew up to 100,000 people to the streets ahead of the March vote that handed Putin a third presidential term.
The State Investigative Committee said Tuesday that it suspects Navalny of organizing a scheme to steal assets from a state timber company totaling 16 million rubles (about half a million dollars). He was ordered not to leave Moscow as the committee pursues an investigation against him.
In Russia, authorities file initial charges to open a criminal probe, long before reaching the trial stage. In any case, Navalny insisted to reporters, "The charges are absolutely absurd."
Since Putin's re-election, the Russian government has struck back at the opposition, arresting some activists and using legislation to try curbing its activities.
Investigators charge Russian protest leader Navalny as Kremlin expands crackdown on dissent | StarTribune.com
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