MOSCOW – Jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has been sentenced to a long prison term on top of his previous sentence. In a trial that Kremlin critics see as an attempt to keep President Vladimir Putin’s most ardent opponent behind bars for as long as possible, a Moscow court on Tuesday sentenced Navalny to nine years in prison in one of Russia’s notorious penal colonies after he was found dead convicted of fraud and contempt of court.
Prosecutors accused Navalny, who is currently serving two and a half years in a penal colony east of Moscow, of embezzling funds he and his foundation had collected over the years and of insulting a judge in a previous trial. Navalny dismissed the allegations as politically motivated.
The court on Tuesday ordered Navalny to be transferred from a detention center near Moscow to a high-security prison that is likely further away from Moscow. His team fear the move will make him even more difficult to control.
“Without public protection, Alexey will face those who have already tried to kill him and nothing will stop them from trying again,” his spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh said Tuesday. “That’s why we’re not only talking about Alexey’s freedom now, but also about his life.”
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who is accused of fraud and contempt of court, and his lawyers Olga Mikhailova and Vadim Kobzev are seen on a screen via video link during a court session in a penal colony in the town of Pokrov, Vladimir region, Russia 22 March 2022. EVGENIA NOVOZHENINA/ REUTERS
Prosecutors had asked for the anti-corruption crusader to be sentenced to 13 years in a high-security prison and a fine of 1.2 million rubles (about $10,700). The fine was handed down on Tuesday along with the 9-year prison sentence. It was not immediately clear whether Navalny was expected to serve the new sentence at the same time as his current one or in addition to it.
The US State Department issued a statement condemning the “politically motivated sentencing and sentencing” of Navalny on “false allegations”.
“This fancy prison sentence is a continuation of the Kremlin’s years-long attack on Navalny and his movement for government transparency and accountability. Of course, Navalny’s real crime in the eyes of the Kremlin is his work as an anti-corruption activist and opposition politician,” the foreign ministry said.
The trial, which opened about a month ago, was held in a makeshift courtroom in the prison colony hours from Moscow, where Navalny is serving a sentence for probation violations. Navalny’s supporters have criticized the authorities’ decision to move the trial from a courthouse in Moscow, saying they had effectively restricted media and supporters’ access to the trials.
Navalny, 45, has appeared at hearings in prison garb and made several lengthy speeches during the trial, denouncing the charges against him as false.
Navalny was arrested in January 2021 immediately after returning from Germany, where he spent five months recovering from poisoning he blamed on the Kremlin, a claim Russian officials vehemently denied. Shortly after the arrest, a court sentenced him to two and a half years in prison for probation violations stemming from a 2014 suspended sentence in a fraud case that Navalny claims was politically motivated.
The visibly gaunt Alexej Navalny appears in public for the first time since the hunger strike 01:29
After Navalny’s arrest, the authorities launched a comprehensive crackdown on his associates and supporters. His closest allies left Russia after facing multiple criminal charges, and his anti-corruption foundation and a network of nearly 40 regional offices have been ostracized as extremist — a label that exposes those involved to prosecution.
Last month, Russian officials put Navalny and a number of his associates on a state register of extremists and terrorists.
Several criminal cases have been launched against Navalny, leading his staff to believe that the Kremlin intends to keep him behind bars for as long as possible.
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