Imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny faced a conviction on charges of extremism in a Russian court, resulting in a 19-year prison sentence handed down on Friday.
Navalny is already serving a nine-year term on various charges that he and his supporters assert were politically motivated.
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His recent charges were linked to his anti-corruption foundation’s activities and statements made by his associates. His supporters view these repeated convictions as part of a calculated Kremlin strategy to silence their most prominent critic. It remains uncertain whether this new sentence will be served concurrently with his current term on fraud and contempt of court charges.
In 2021, Navalny was sentenced to two and a half years in prison for a parole violation. The extremism trial took place behind closed doors in the penal colony east of Moscow, where he is currently imprisoned. The judge took less than 10 minutes to announce the verdict and sentence.
The 47-year-old holds the position of President Vladimir Putin’s fiercest adversary and is renowned for exposing official corruption and organizing major anti-Kremlin protests. He faced arrest in January 2021 upon returning to Moscow after recovering in Germany from a nerve agent poisoning he attributed to the Kremlin.
Navalny’s allies argued that the extremism charges retroactively criminalize all the activities of his anti-corruption foundation since its establishment in 2011. In 2021, Russian authorities declared the foundation and Navalny’s network of regional offices as extremist organizations, leaving anyone associated with them vulnerable to prosecution.
In the lead-up to the verdict hearing, Navalny released a statement on social media, anticipating a “huge…a Stalinist term” for his latest sentence. He invoked the memory of the Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin’s oppressive regime, known as the “Great Terror,” where millions of people were labeled “enemies of the state” and subjected to imprisonment and execution.
In his statement, Navalny urged Russians to “personally” resist and show support for political prisoners. He emphasized the importance of not succumbing to intimidation and encouraged proactive engagement in bringing about change.
In response to the verdict, Navalny’s supporters called for solidarity outside the Melekhovo prison. Around 40 supporters from different Russian cities gathered outside the colony, seeking to offer moral support, although they were not permitted entry.
According to Russian law, Navalny has 10 days to appeal the verdict, and any such appeal would suspend the sentence until it is resolved.
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