A Russian court today rejected an appeal by opposition leader Alexei Navalny against a nine-year sentence for corruption and contempt of court, which he denies.
Navalny, the most prominent figure in the Russian opposition, was sentenced in March to nine years in prison for fraud and contempt of court, in addition to the two-and-a-half-year sentence he is already serving. He denies all charges against him, saying they were fabricated to thwart his political ambitions.
Earlier, Navalny rebuked President Vladimir Putin, saying he was an unbalanced man who had started a “stupid war” in Ukraine that was killing innocent people in both Ukraine and Russia.
Saying that Putin’s Russia is a state ruled by thieves and criminals, Navalny said that Russia’s current leaders will be crushed by the forces of history and burned in hell, causing a bloodbath in Ukraine.
“This is a stupid war that your Putin started,” Navalny, 45, told a Moscow court of appeals via video link from a prison. “This war was built on lies.”
“An unbalanced person has put his calipers in Ukraine and I do not know what he wants to do with it – this stupid thief,” Navalny said of Putin.
Intermittently interrupted by the judge, Navalny said the “facts” the prosecutor was talking about were “lies” – and compared them to the lies Putin said he used to launch the invasion of Ukraine. on February 24th.
“What do you want to achieve – do you want short-term control, to fight with future generations, to fight for the future of Russia?” Navalny asked the court. “You will all suffer a historic defeat.”
“Your time will pass,” Navalny said. “When you all burn in hell, your grandparents will throw wood at your fires.”
The Kremlin has repeatedly denied Navalny’s claims about Putin, arguing that the Russian president has won many fair elections in Russia since 2000 and remains the country’s most popular politician. He dismissed as nonsense Navalny’s claim that Putin was corrupt.
Putin says “special military operation” in Ukraine is necessary to demilitarize and “demilitarize” the country, and because the United States is using Ukraine to threaten Russia through NATO enlargement, Moscow must defend the Russian-speaking population from persecution.
Ukraine and its Western allies reject Russia’s claims, saying they are unfounded pretexts to invade a sovereign country.
SOURCE: AMPE
Source: Capital
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