Prosecutor seeks $13K fine in Navalny defamation case

Moscow. Feb. 16: A Russian prosecutor on Tuesday asked a Moscow court to fine opposition figure Alexei Navalny

950,000 rubles ($13,000/10,600 euros) for allegedly defaming a 94year-old veteran. The prosecution also asked for a three-and-a-half year suspended sentence Navalny received in 2014 to be converted into real jail time as the alleged defamation occurred during the suspended sentence.

Another Moscow court earlier this month already converted the suspended sentence to jail time over Navalny allegedly violating the terms of the suspended sentence while recovering from a poisoning attack in Germany.

A Moscow district court was on Tuesday hearing the final arguments in the defamation case against Navalny, who referred to the World War II veteran and others who appeared in a proKremlin video as “traitors”.

Navalny took part in the hearing from inside a glass cage for defendants. Wearing a blue hoodie, the 44-year-old anti-graft campaigner frequently smiled and paced inside the glass cell, an AFP journalist reported.

His lawyer Olga Mikhailova insisted the charges were “contrived and arbitrary”. After the final arguments were delivered, the judge adjourned the hearing to February 20.

Another Moscow court on Tuesday was scheduled to hear a libel case against Navalny launched by Kremlin-linked businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin.

The 59-year-old businessman, nicknamed “Putin's chef ” because his company Concord catered for the Kremlin, is seeking five million rubles in compensation from Navalny.

Later in the day, a court will also hear Navalny's appeal against a fine of 3.3 million rubles that he was ordered to pay a food company in another defamation lawsuit.

Navalny was jailed immediately after returning from Germany to Moscow in January, sparking two consecutive weekends of nationwide protests demanding his release.

At least 10,000 people were detained in a police crackdown on demonstrators.

On Sunday several hundred female activists formed a human chain in central Moscow in a show of support for Navalny's wife Yulia and other women caught up in the crackdown.

Washington, Feb. 16: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Monday that Congress will establish an independent, Sept. 11-style commission to look into the deadly insurrection that took place at the US Capitol.

Pelosi said the commission will investigate and report on the facts and causes relating to the Jan. 6, 2021, domestic terrorist attack upon the United States Capitol Complex and relating to the interference with the peaceful transfer of power.” In a letter to Democratic colleagues, Pelosi said the House will also put forth supplemental spending to boost security at the Capitol.

After former President Donald Trump's acquittal at his second Senate impeachment trial, bipartisan support appeared to be growing for an independent commission to examine the deadly insurrection. Investigations into the riot were already planned, with Senate hearings scheduled later this month in the Senate Rules Committee. Pelosi, D-Calif., asked retired Army Lt. Gen. Russel Honor to lead an immediate

review of the Capitol's security process.

In her letter Monday, Pelosi said, It is clear from his findings and from the impeachment trial that we must get to the truth of how this happened.

She added, As we prepare for the Commission, it is also clear from General Honor's interim reporting

that we must put forth a supplemental appropriation to provide for the safety of Members and the security of the CapMitol.

Lawmakers from both parties, speaking on Sunday's news shows, signalled that even more inquiries were likely. The Senate verdict Saturday, with its 57-43 majority falling 10

INDIAN-AMERICAN Pronita Gupta has been named US President Joe Biden's Special Assistant for Labour and Workers on the Domestic Policy Council.

votes short of needed Trump. the twothirds to convict