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Alexei Navalny's legal team is challenging every detail of the trial
The trial on embezzlement charges of one of Russia's leading opposition figures, Alexei Navalny, has resumed.
Mr Navalny is accused of involvement in the misappropriation of 16m roubles (£300,000; $500,000) from a state timber firm he advised while working for the governor of the Kirov region.
The 36-year-old, who is known for his blogs denouncing President Vladimir Putin's United Russia party as corrupt, could face up to 10 years in prison.
He has called the charges "absurd".
In a recent interview with the BBC, Mr Navalny accused Mr Putin of personally ordering his prosecution in an effort to discredit him.
'Tendentious'Mr Navalny's trial in the city of Kirov, about 900km (560 miles) north-east of Moscow, began a week ago but was quickly adjourned after his lawyers said they needed more time to read the case files.
Turning occasionally to the phalanx of cameras behind him, Alexei Navalny sat at the front of the court in his trademark open-necked shirt. His lawyers are challenging every aspect of the case - the venue, the length of time they have had to read the documentation, and the "self-contradictory" charges.
Alexei Navalny has been quite clear - he says this is a political trial.
Many of those who have followed his rise tend to agree with him. He has become a threat to the Russian political establishment. He has hit them where it hurts, by exposing the extraordinary levels of corruption in their ranks. He has written about it with savage ferocity laced with poisonous sarcasm.
Many of the tens of thousands who took to the streets last year were there because of him. He has become one of the Putin government's most successful opponents.
Eventually he attracted the attention of Russia's equivalent of the FBI - the Investigative Committee - which has become an increasingly politicised force. Now, in front of a judge who has not acquitted anyone in more than 130 cases, it seems likely that he is going to prison.
The trial resumed on Wednesday but was twice adjourned as the judge withdrew to consider requests by the defence to send the case back to prosecutors, citing violations by the investigators.
Speaking to reporters after the judge ordered the second recess, Mr Navalny denounced the case against him.
"It's raw, it's tendentious, there are different numbers cited everywhere, different amounts of timber are mentioned, and so on," he said.
He also insisted his innocence would be apparent even if he was convicted.
"At the end of the trial, we will certainly win. I'm sure that a lack of guilt will be established. Even if it is not formally acknowledged by the court, it will be clear for everyone who attends the trial."
Outside, a Navalny supporter put up a large sign saying: "Putin is a thief."
Aside from the embezzlement charges, three other criminal cases have been opened against Mr Navalny.
Last Thursday, the federal Investigative Committee announced that he and his brother were suspected of organising a 3.8m-rouble (£79,000; $121,000) fraud involving mail deliveries in 2008.
A spokeswoman for the activist said the latest allegations were the authorities' "reaction to the massive public support that we're receiving".
Mr Navalny is the most high-profile opposition figure to be tried since anti-Putin protests 16 months ago, which saw the biggest demonstrations in Moscow since the fall of the USSR.
Since Mr Putin's re-election in March 2011, legal action against opposition figures has increased markedly. Tough laws have been passed on public order offences and tight curbs placed on non-governmental organisations.
Analysts say Mr Navalny's conviction would be a major blow to an opposition which for years suffered the lack of a central figure or platform.
Mr Navalny's case is highlighted in a report published by Human Rights Watch, which warns that Russia is violating its international human rights commitments.
"The new laws and government harassment are pushing civil society activists to the margins of the law," said Hugh Williamson, the group's Europe and Central Asia director. "The government crackdown is hurting Russian society and harming Russia's international standing."
"Russia's international partners should leave no doubt about the seriousness with which they view the crackdown underway in Russia, and impress upon Moscow the urgent need to stop abuses," he added.
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