A Russian prosecutor called for Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny to pay a $13,000 fine in a defamation case in of one of a series of legal proceedings Navalny says are aimed at silencing him, reported AFP. The most vocal opponent of President Vladimir Putin, Navalny was taken into police custody immediately after returning to Moscow in January from Germany, where he was recovering from poisoning since August and he blames it on the Kremlin.

Navalny‘s  arrest sparked two consecutive weekends of nationwide protests demanding his release, in some of the biggest anti-government demonstrations in years.

A three-and-a-half-year suspended sentence Navalny received on fraud charges in 2014 was converted to jail time over alleged parole violations earlier this month.

He now faces defamation charges for referring to a World War II veteran and others who appeared in a pro-Kremlin video as “traitors”. While a Moscow district court on Tuesday heard the final arguments in the case, the prosecutor asked for a fine of 950,000 rubles ($13,000/10,600 euros).

As the alleged defamation occurred during the suspended sentence, the prosecutor also requested that it be converted to real jail time, despite the other court having already ruled to do so.

Inside a glass cage for defendants and wearing a blue hoodie, the 44-year-old anti-graft campaigner frequently smiled and paced inside the glass cell. 

In his closing arguments, Navalny said that “every moment of this case is obvious legal nonsense” and accused the prosecution of presenting fabricated evidence.

Navalny has often used his court hearings to mock the proceedings and in his final remarks Tuesday he asked if the judge could recommend a recipe for pickles, since it is “pointless to talk about the law” with her.

Navalny’s lawyer Olga Mikhailova insisted the charges were “contrived and arbitrary” and said the defence “strongly disagreed” with the prosecution’s arguments.

After the final arguments were delivered, the judge adjourned the hearing to February 20, the same day Navalny is scheduled to appeal his jail term in a different court.