Putin critic Navalny sentenced to 19 years in prison for extremism – National | 24CA News
A Russian courtroom convicted imprisoned opposition chief Alexei Navalny on fees of extremism and sentenced him to 19 years in jail Friday, his spokesperson and Russian news businesses reported. Navalny is already serving a nine-year time period on a wide range of fees that he says have been politically motivated.
The new fees associated to the actions of Navalny’s anti-corruption basis and statements by his prime associates. It was his fifth legal conviction and the third and longest jail time period handed to him, all of which his supporters see as a deliberate Kremlin technique to silence its most ardent opponent. It wasn’t instantly clear whether or not he would serve this new time period concurrently together with his present sentence on fees of fraud and contempt of courtroom.
The prosecution had demanded a 20-year jail sentence, and Navalny mentioned beforehand that he anticipated to obtain a prolonged time period.
Navalny was additionally sentenced in 2021 to 2 and a half years in jail for a parole violation. The extremism trial occurred behind closed doorways within the penal colony east of Moscow the place he’s imprisoned.
Navalny appeared within the courtroom sporting jail garb and searching gaunt, however with a defiant smile on his face. As the decide learn out the decision, the politician stood alongside his legal professionals and his co-defendant together with his arms crossed, listening with a critical expression on his face.
It took the decide lower than 10 minutes to announce the decision and the sentence _ one thing that in Russia often takes hours and even days. The listening to was broadcast to reporters in a separate room, however the decide’s speech was barely audible. Navalny’s spokesperson, Kira Yarmysh, confirmed the decision on social media, and Russian state news businesses RIA Novosti and Tass ran direct quotes from the decision.
The 47-year-old Navalny is President Vladimir Putin’s fiercest foe and has uncovered official corruption and arranged main anti-Kremlin protests. He was arrested in January 2021 upon returning to Moscow after recuperating in Germany from nerve agent poisoning that he blamed on the Kremlin.
Navalny’s allies mentioned the extremism fees retroactively criminalized all the anti-corruption basis’s actions since its creation in 2011. In 2021, Russian authorities outlawed the inspiration and the huge community of Navalny’s places of work in Russian areas as extremist organizations, exposing anybody concerned to doable prosecution.
One of Navalny’s associates, Daniel Kholodny, stood trial alongside him after being relocated from a unique jail. It wasn’t instantly clear what sentence was handed to Kholodny.
Navalny rejected all the fees towards him as politically motivated and accused the Kremlin of looking for to maintain him behind bars for all times.
On the eve of the decision listening to, Navalny launched an announcement on social media, presumably by way of his workforce, wherein he mentioned he anticipated his newest sentence to be “a huge Stalinist term.” Under the Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin, thousands and thousands of individuals have been branded “enemies of the state,” jailed and generally executed in what turned generally known as the “Great Terror.”
In his assertion, Navalny known as on Russians to “personally” resist and inspired them to help political prisoners, distribute flyers or go to a rally. He advised Russians that they may select a secure method to withstand, however he added that “there is shame in doing nothing. It’s shameful to let yourself be intimidated.”
The politician is presently serving his sentence in a maximum-security jail — Penal Colony No. 6 within the city of Melekhovo, about 230 kilometers (greater than 140 miles) east of Moscow.
He has spent months in a tiny one-person cell, additionally known as a “punishment cell,” for purported disciplinary violations, equivalent to an alleged failure to button his jail garments correctly, introduce himself appropriately to a guard or to scrub his face at a specified time.
On social media, Navalny’s associates urged supporters to return to Melekhovo on Friday to precise solidarity with the politician.
About 40 supporters from completely different Russian cities gathered exterior the colony, one in all them advised The Associated Press within the messaging app Telegram. Yelena, who spoke provided that her final identify was withheld for security causes, mentioned the supporters weren’t allowed into the colony, however determined to remain exterior till the decision as introduced: “People think it’s important to be nearby at least like that, for moral support. We will be waiting.”
Navalny was ordered to serve the brand new jail time period in a “special regime” penal colony, a time period that refers back to the Russian prisons with the very best stage of safety and the harshest inmate restrictions. It wasn’t instantly clear when he can be transferred to such a colony from the Melekhovo jail.
By regulation, Navalny has 10 days to enchantment the decision, and if he does, it won’t take impact till the enchantment is adjudicated.
Russian regulation stipulates that solely males given life sentences or “especially dangerous recidivists” are despatched to these varieties of prisons.
The nation has many fewer “special regime” colonies in comparison with different varieties of grownup prisons, in line with state penitentiary service information: 35 colonies for “dangerous recidivists” and 6 for males imprisoned for all times. Maximum-security colonies are essentially the most widespread sort, with 251 presently in operation
-Associated Press author Dasha Litvinova contributed to this report from Tallinn, Estonia.
© 2023 The Canadian Press
