Leader of Russian opposition Navalny sentenced to 9 years in prison

Alexei Navalny‘s new sentence

The leader of the Russian opposition, Alexei Navalny, who is already serving a term in prison, was sentenced by the court to a new term of nine years in a strict regime colony.

According to the Russian Novaya Gazeta, the verdicts were handed down by the Lefortovo Court of Moscow at an off-site meeting, which took place in the colony where Navalny is serving his term. The oppositionist was found guilty in the case of “fraud” and “insulting” the court.

In addition to the term, the court imposed a fine of 1.2 million rubles [about $11.5 thousand] on Navalny.

At the trial, the prosecutor asked Navalny to be sentenced to 13 years in a strict regime colony with restriction of movement for two years and a fine of 1.2 million.

The oppositionist’s defense insisted on an acquittal and pointed to the absence of a crime in Navalny’s actions.

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Navalny was found guilty of particularly large-scale fraud and contempt of court. This is refers to the alleged “stealing” of donations to his 2018 election campaign and to the activities of the Anti-Corruption Foundation, which was headed by Navalny.

The episode of contempt of court is connected with Navalny’s insult to the judge, prosecutor and grandson of the veteran of the Great Patriotic War, Ignat Artemenko, during the libel trial against Artemenko in 2021.

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In 2021, an investigation was also launched against Navalny in cases of creating an extremist community and creating an organization that infringes on the personality and rights of citizens.

All Navalny-led organizations were identified as “extremist” and banned.

Alexei Navalny, who miraculously survived poisoning with the Novichok, was arrested on January 17, 2021 right at the airport immediately after returning to Russia from Germany, where he was undergoing treatment.

Later, the court sentenced him to two years and eight months in prison, replacing the suspended sentence in one of the criminal cases on charges of fraud and embezzlement with real imprisonment.