Navalny will appear before a Russian court for new charges of extremism.

A new trial of Aleksei A. Navalny, Russia’s imprisoned opposition leader, began Monday, with several charges of extremism potentially adding decades to the prison sentences he is already serving.

Although the charges were filed in a Moscow district court, the trial took place about 150 miles east of the capital in the penal colony where Mr Navalny has been held since 2021. heard via video feed, with Mr. Navalny barely visible or audible, according to a reporter from the Mediazona news outlet. But that feed was later shut down after prosecutors complained about unspecified “security issues” facing trial participants.

Basmanny District Court’s new charges include inciting and financing extremism, as well as “rehabilitating Nazism”. Mr Navalny previously said he was barely given time to study the material submitted in the case, contained in some 200 volumes or nearly 4,000 pages. All cases against him are politically motivated, he and his supporters have said.

If Mr Navalny is convicted – and acquittals are extremely rare in Russian courts, especially against opposition figures – the case could extend his prison sentence by another 30 years.

Mr Navalny, 47, has already been sentenced to nine years in prison on a variety of charges, including violation of parole, fraud and contempt of court.

A witty, charismatic figure who has torn apart the Kremlin elite with his corruption investigations, Mr. Navalny had the ability to mobilize people across the country to demonstrate against the government, making him a rare political force in Russia.

Daniel Kholodny, a former technical director of Mr Navalny’s YouTube channel, is also on trial with him on charges of participating in and financing extremist activities. Three lawyers represented them at the trial.

At least 15 activists who worked with Mr Navalny are facing similar charges, according to his spokeswoman, Kira Yarmysh. Many of them have fled indoors banished.

Last week, in the first conviction of Navalny activists since the Russian government labeled his grassroots anti-corruption group an “extremist organization” in 2021, two of his former associates received long prison terms. Lilia Chanysheva, the head of Mr. Navalny’s office in the central region of Bashkortostan, was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison. Her former colleague, Rustem Mulyukov, was sentenced to two and a half years in prison for similar charges.

Mr Navalny was arrested in 2021 after returning to Russia from Germany, where he was recovering from a near-fatal poisoning widely blamed on the Kremlin. The Russian government denies any involvement.

The documentary “Navalny”, which won an award Academy Awards this year, several agents of Russia’s state security service, the FSB, were implicated in the attack.

Mr Navalny’s parents, Anatoly and Lyudmila, asked to attend the hearing in person on Monday but were also moved to a side room, Mediazona reported. Mr. Navalny’s first request to the judge was that they be admitted to the hearing, which the judge would later consider.