Putin foe Navalny goes on trial in Russia

The trial of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny on embezzlement charges has been adjounred. Source: AAP

RUSSIAN opposition leader Alexei Navalny has gone on trial on charges he says were ordered by President Vladimir Putin to eliminate a top opponent, but the process was swiftly adjourned for a week to allow the defence more time to prepare.

Hundreds of journalists and Navalny supporters on Wednesday descended on the provincial northern city of Kirov 900 kilometres from Moscow for the trial of Navalny and a co-defendant on embezzlement charges related to a timber deal.

But the first act in what the opposition claims is the latest political show trial in Putin's Russia was over in less than 40 minutes after Judge Sergei Blinov agreed to give the defence more time, adjourning the trial for one week until April 24.

Navalny, who risks up to 10 years in prison in the embezzlement case, has predicted he will be convicted and possibly jailed. Even a suspended sentence would make it illegal for him to run for office.

The trial is a potential turning point in the standoff between the Kremlin and the opposition that erupted with mass opposition protests in the winter of 2011-12 ahead of Putin's return for a third Kremlin term last May.

Navalny - who emerged as by far the most eloquent of the protest leaders - had raised the stakes ahead of the trial by announcing earlier this month he wanted to stand for president.

The 36-year-old is a new breed of Russian protest leader who has yet to fully embrace party politics, but has built a huge internet following with sharply-written blogs and corruption exposes.

Dressed in a white shirt without a tie and jeans and looking relaxed, Navalny sat with his lawyers and co-defendant Pyotr Ofitserov. His right hand was bandaged after a minor injury.

Navalny flashed smiles and used a mobile phone emblazoned with Putin's face and the word "thief" to take a picture of the dozens of journalists pointing cameras at him.

"One way or another I am sure that during the hearing my innocence will be completely proved. But what decision the judge makes or whoever makes the decision, we'll see," Navalny said after the adjournment.

"I won't go on about how the case is fabricated and falsified. I am completely innocent," he said. Noting that he had posted the case documents online, he added: "I think any person even without legal education can be sure of this."

Navalny is charged with organising the misappropriation in a timber deal of more than 16 million roubles ($A495,092.59)from the Kirov regional government that he advised in 2009.

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