AUG. 9–15, 2024
A Ukrainian tank passes by a burning car near the Russian-Ukrainian border, a river floods a road after Tropical Storm Ernesto passed through Toa Baja in Puerto Rico, a Palestinian man mourns his 4-day-old twin relatives in Deir al-Balah, and people in the Northern Hemisphere gather to watch the Perseid meteor shower.
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A man runs while flames burn a mini excavator during a fire in northern Athens, Monday, Aug. 12, 2024, as hundreds of firefighters tackle a major wildfire raging out of control on fringes of Greek capital. (AP Photo/Michael Varaklas)
Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris and running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz arrive during a campaign rally at Desert Diamond Arena, Friday, Aug. 9, 2024, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a news conference at Trump National Golf Club, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024, in Bedminster, N.J. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)
Icelandic horses graze in a meadow at a stud farm in Wehrheim, Germany, at sunrise, Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)
Palestinians displaced by the Israeli air and ground offensive on the Gaza Strip flee from Hamad City, following an evacuation order by the Israeli army to leave parts of the southern area of Khan Younis, Sunday, Aug. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Volunteers work placing Belgian grown begonia's into a giant flower carpet with an Art Nouveau theme at the historic Grand Place in Brussels, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
Ancient statues are seen during the Perseid meteor shower atop Mount Nemrut in southeastern Turkey, Sunday, Aug.11, 2024. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)
Presidential Guards attend an event marking the 44th Zimbabwe Defense Forces Day at Rufaro Stadium in Harare, Zimbabwe, Tuesday Aug. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Aaron Ufumeli)
A Ukrainian tank passes by a burning car near the Russian-Ukrainian border, Sumy region, Ukraine, Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
Children push a carriage in Campo Florido, east of Havana, Cuba, Monday, Aug. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
La Plata river floods a road after Tropical Storm Ernesto passed through Toa Baja, Puerto Rico, Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Alejandro Granadillo)
A Palestinian man mourns his 4-day-old twin relatives, killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, as he holds their birth certificates, at a hospital morgue in Deir al-Balah, Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Palestinians displaced by the Israeli air and ground offensive on the Gaza Strip flee from Hamad City, following an evacuation order by the Israeli army to leave parts of the southern area of Khan Younis, Sunday, Aug. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
The feet are what remains of a statue of former dictator Gen. Alfredo Stroessner (1912-2006) that was removed several decades ago from Victory Peace Monument which features national heroes on Lambare Hill in Asuncion, Paraguay, Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024, the day before the 70th anniversary of the start of Stroessner's regime that lasted 35 years. The shadow behind is from another statue. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)
A man searches for reusable material amid offerings and idols of Hindu goddess Dashama left by devotees on the banks of River Sabarmati after the end of the ten-days long Dashama festival in Ahmedabad, India, Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki)
A lobster fishing boat motors out to sea under the dawn sky, Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024, on Casco Bay in South Portland, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Taliban fighters celebrate the third anniversary of the withdrawal of US-led troops from Afghanistan, in Lashkar Gah, Helmand province, southwestern Afghanistan, Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdul Khaliq)
Assam Police personnel take part in a parade during the country's Independence Day celebrations in Guwahati, India, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)
Fireworks ignite during the 2024 Summer Olympics closing ceremony at the Stade de France, Sunday, Aug. 11, 2024, in Saint-Denis, France. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
Leticia Torrealba sheds tears as she speaks about the detention of her 16-year-old son Adrian who was detained during a government crackdown in response to anti-government protests that erupted throughout the country after President Nicolas Maduro was declared winner amid allegations of fraud, in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024. Torrealba said her son had not participated in the protests but was picked up by security forces as he walked along a street. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
A three-wheeled motorized vehicle drives past people in an alley where vendors have displayed national flags and decoration material for sale ahead of country's Independence anniversary in Jakarta, Indonesia, Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana)
A meteor streaks above a destroyed tank from the 1992-1995 war in Bosnia, during the Perseid meteor shower on Bjelasnica mountain, Bosnia, Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)
This gallery highlights some of the most compelling images published in the past week by The Associated Press.
The selection was curated by AP photo editor Eloy Martin in Madrid.
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A supporter wearing earrings that read "Unapologetically Black" listens during a campaign rally for Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)
A man runs while flames burn a mini excavator during a fire in northern Athens, Monday, Aug. 12, 2024, as hundreds of firefighters tackle a major wildfire raging out of control on fringes of Greek capital. (AP Photo/Michael Varaklas)
Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris and running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz arrive during a campaign rally at Desert Diamond Arena, Friday, Aug. 9, 2024, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a news conference at Trump National Golf Club, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024, in Bedminster, N.J. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)
Icelandic horses graze in a meadow at a stud farm in Wehrheim, Germany, at sunrise, Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)
Palestinians displaced by the Israeli air and ground offensive on the Gaza Strip flee from Hamad City, following an evacuation order by the Israeli army to leave parts of the southern area of Khan Younis, Sunday, Aug. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Volunteers work placing Belgian grown begonia's into a giant flower carpet with an Art Nouveau theme at the historic Grand Place in Brussels, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
Ancient statues are seen during the Perseid meteor shower atop Mount Nemrut in southeastern Turkey, Sunday, Aug.11, 2024. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)
Presidential Guards attend an event marking the 44th Zimbabwe Defense Forces Day at Rufaro Stadium in Harare, Zimbabwe, Tuesday Aug. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Aaron Ufumeli)
A Ukrainian tank passes by a burning car near the Russian-Ukrainian border, Sumy region, Ukraine, Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
Children push a carriage in Campo Florido, east of Havana, Cuba, Monday, Aug. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
La Plata river floods a road after Tropical Storm Ernesto passed through Toa Baja, Puerto Rico, Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Alejandro Granadillo)
A Palestinian man mourns his 4-day-old twin relatives, killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, as he holds their birth certificates, at a hospital morgue in Deir al-Balah, Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Palestinians displaced by the Israeli air and ground offensive on the Gaza Strip flee from Hamad City, following an evacuation order by the Israeli army to leave parts of the southern area of Khan Younis, Sunday, Aug. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
The feet are what remains of a statue of former dictator Gen. Alfredo Stroessner (1912-2006) that was removed several decades ago from Victory Peace Monument which features national heroes on Lambare Hill in Asuncion, Paraguay, Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024, the day before the 70th anniversary of the start of Stroessner's regime that lasted 35 years. The shadow behind is from another statue. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)
A man searches for reusable material amid offerings and idols of Hindu goddess Dashama left by devotees on the banks of River Sabarmati after the end of the ten-days long Dashama festival in Ahmedabad, India, Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki)
A lobster fishing boat motors out to sea under the dawn sky, Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024, on Casco Bay in South Portland, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Taliban fighters celebrate the third anniversary of the withdrawal of US-led troops from Afghanistan, in Lashkar Gah, Helmand province, southwestern Afghanistan, Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdul Khaliq)
Assam Police personnel take part in a parade during the country's Independence Day celebrations in Guwahati, India, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)
Fireworks ignite during the 2024 Summer Olympics closing ceremony at the Stade de France, Sunday, Aug. 11, 2024, in Saint-Denis, France. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
Leticia Torrealba sheds tears as she speaks about the detention of her 16-year-old son Adrian who was detained during a government crackdown in response to anti-government protests that erupted throughout the country after President Nicolas Maduro was declared winner amid allegations of fraud, in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024. Torrealba said her son had not participated in the protests but was picked up by security forces as he walked along a street. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
A three-wheeled motorized vehicle drives past people in an alley where vendors have displayed national flags and decoration material for sale ahead of country's Independence anniversary in Jakarta, Indonesia, Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana)
A meteor streaks above a destroyed tank from the 1992-1995 war in Bosnia, during the Perseid meteor shower on Bjelasnica mountain, Bosnia, Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)
PETUSHKI, Russia (AP) — Three lawyers who once represented the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny went on trial Thursday in Russia, part of the Kremlin's unrelenting crackdown on dissent that has in recent years reached levels unseen since the Soviet times.
The three — Vadim Kobzev, Igor Sergunin and Alexei Liptser — were arrested in October 2023 on charges of involvement with an extremist group. The case has been widely seen as a means to ramp up pressure on the Kremlin's fiercest foe at the time and to discourage defense lawyers from taking on political cases.
When they were arrested, Navalny was already serving a 19-year prison term on several criminal convictions, including extremism. The extremism charges against the opposition politician stemmed from a 2021 court ruling that outlawed his organizations in Russia — the Foundation for Fighting Corruption and a vast network of regional offices — as extremist groups.
That ruling, which exposed anyone involved with the organizations to prosecution, was condemned by Kremlin critics as politically motivated and designed to stifle Navalny's political activities.
According to Navalny’s allies, authorities accused the lawyers of using their status as defense attorneys to pass letters from the imprisoned politician to his team, effectively serving as intermediaries between Navalny and what they consider to be his “extremist group.”
Navalny, a 47-year-old anti-corruption campaigner and outspoken opponent of President Vladimir Putin, was arrested in January 2021 upon his return from Germany, where he was recuperating from a nerve agent poisoning he blamed on the Kremlin.
Shortly after the arrest, a court ordered the politician to serve 2 1/2 years in prison. In the following years, Navalny stood two more trials which extended his prison term to 19 years in total. He and his allies have vehemently rejected all charges as politically motivated and accused the Kremlin of seeking to jail him for life.
Until December 2023, Navalny was serving time in two different penal colonies in the Vladimir region east of Moscow. In December, he was transferred to a remote prison above the Arctic circle. In February 2024, he suddenly died behind bars in what his team and his widow Yulia Navalnaya charged to be a murder ordered by the Kremlin. Officials have rejected the accusations.
The trial of the three lawyers is also taking place in the Vladimir region, in the town of Petushki, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) east of the Russian capital. Their attorneys repeatedly petitioned the courts to hold the proceedings in Moscow, where the three were held in pre-trial detention, but were denied.
Russian media and rights activists reported in June that the three were transferred to a detention center in the Vladimir region.
Upon a request from the prosecution, the judge in the Petushki District Court on Thursday ordered the proceedings be closed to the media and the public, overruling objections from the defense attorneys.
Two more of Navalny’s lawyers are on a wanted list. One of them, Olga Mikhailova, who had defended the politician for a decade, said she had been charged in absentia with extremism after fleeing the country. The other, Alexander Fedulov, also said last year that he was no longer in Russia.
For many political prisoners in Russia, regular visits from lawyers — especially in remote regions — are a lifeline that allows them to keep their loved ones informed about their well-being, as well as report and push back against abuse by prison officials.
Human rights advocates from Memorial, Russia's most prominent rights group that won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2022, say that Kobzev, Liptser and Sergunin are political prisoners and have demanded their immediate release.
Former Navalny's lawyers Vadim Kobzev, center, and Igor Sergunin, right, appear in the cage during a court session in Petushki, Vladimir region, about 120 kilometers (75 miles) east of Moscow, Russia, Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)
Former Navalny's lawyers Igor Sergunin, from left, Alexei Liptser and Vadim Kobzev sit in the cage during a court session in Petushki, Vladimir region, about 120 kilometers (75 miles) east of Moscow, Russia, Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)
Former Navalny's lawyers Igor Sergunin, left, Alexei Liptser, center, and Vadim Kobzev, right, sit in the cage during a court session in Petushki, Vladimir region, about 120 kilometers (75 miles) east of Moscow, Russia, Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)
Former Navalny's lawyer Igor Sergunin sits in the cage during a court session in Petushki, Vladimir region, about 120 kilometers (75 miles) east of Moscow, Russia, Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)
Former Navalny's lawyers Igor Sergunin, left, Alexei Liptser, center, and Vadim Kobzev, right, appear in the cage during a court session in Petushki, Vladimir region, about 120 kilometers (75 miles) east of Moscow, Russia, Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)