A Russian court on Tuesday sentenced Alexei Navalny, a notorious Kremlin critic, to nine years in prison on charges of fraud and contempt.
The decision will keep Russian President Vladimir Putin’s most prominent opponent out of politics for years to come.
Navalny, who was also found guilty of contempt of court, is already serving a two-and-a-half-year sentence in a prison camp east of Moscow for parole violations.
He considers these accusations to be trumped up to thwart his political ambitions.
During the trial, Navalny stood with his lawyers in a room full of prison guards as the judge read the charges against him.
Thin, the 45-year-old activist looked unperturbed, looking down as he leafed through court documents.
Navalny, whom the court also fined 1.2 million rubles, dismissed the latest criminal case against him as politically motivated and pleaded not guilty.
Poisoning by Alexei Navalny
Navalny was arrested last year when he returned to Russia after receiving medical treatment in Germany after being poisoned with a Soviet-era nerve agent during a visit to Siberia in 2020. The activist blamed Putin for the attack.
The Kremlin said it saw no evidence that Navalny was poisoned and denied any Russian involvement in the case.
After the last hearing in his case on March 15, Navalny took a defiant tone and posted a message on Instagram challenging the Russian court:
“If the prison sentence is the price of my human right to say things that need to be said (…) they can punish me with 113 years. I will not renounce my words or actions.”
wrote Navalny
Russian officials branded the activist and his supporters as subversives determined to destabilize Russia with Western support. Many of the activist’s allies fled the country to avoid restrictions or even prison.
Supporters of Navalny’s movement continue to express their political stance, including their opposition to Moscow’s war in Ukraine, on social media.
Source: CNN Brasil
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