Jailed Navalny says Russia has launched three new investigations against him

[May 25, 2021]    MOSCOW (Reuters) -Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny said he had been informed in prison about three new criminal investigations against him, according to a post on his Instagram account published on Tuesday.

Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny takes part in a rally in Moscow, Russia February 29, 2020. REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov

Navalny said he had learned about the cases from an investigator who visited him in custody on Monday.

"I'm becoming a more hardened criminal every day," he joked in the post. "So don't think I'm only sitting in a cell, drinking tea and doing nothing."

He said investigators were looking into the theft of donations from his anti-corruption foundation FBK, the founding an organization, in violation of human rights, and insulting a judge.

The Russian Investigative Committee said earlier it had opened cases involving FBK and human rights violations against Navalny and his allies.

In February, a prosecutor requested the Investigative Committee to check if Navalny's statements during one of his trials could qualify as being insulting towards the judge.

(Reporting by Maxim Rodionov, writing by Maria Tsvetkova, editing by Andrew Heavens and Nick Macfie)

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