A judge handed down a 19-year prison sentence against Alexei Navalny on charges of extremism related to the work of his anti-corruption organization, illegal since 2011. The new sentence is added to the nine years in prison that Navalny is already serving for a variety of charges related to his activism. His followers denounce the Kremlin’s fierce persecution against the politician, a staunch opponent of President Vladimir Putin for several years.
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Wearing a prison uniform and notorious physical wear and tear, Alexei Navalny was presented on August 4 before a judge in a closed courtroom in penal colony 6, where he has been serving a sentence for months in a punishment cell.
The sentence was handed down in 10 minutes: 19 years in prison on charges of extremism.
The new sentence, the third and longest of which the opposition leader is subjected, has been established to be served in a special regime penal colony (whose security device is more severe than that of a maximum security prison), which according to Russian law is reserved for those sentenced to life imprisonment or repeat offenders of “special danger”.
The press and supporters of the opposition politician pointed out the precarious quality of the audio of the transmission that did not allow understanding what the judge was saying.
After learning of the sentence, Navalny wrote on his Telegram channel: “19 years of special regime. The number is not important. I fully understand, like many political prisoners, that I am serving a life sentence.”
On the eve of the hearing, the Russian issued a statement on social networks in which he expressed that he feared a “Stalinist condemnation.”
In the text, the opponent also called for the support of Russian civil society and invited them to resist and support political prisoners, since “shame is in doing nothing. It’s embarrassing to be intimidated,” the post read.
During the time that the hearing lasted, at least 40 citizens who support Navalny made a timely appointment outside the prison located in Melekhovo (approximately 230 kilometers from Moscow).
“People think it’s important to be around like this, for moral support. We will be waiting” commented Yelena, one of those attending the mobilization, who requested that her last name be safeguarded to guarantee her safety.
From poisoning to a maximum security prison
The 47-year-old politician is the most reluctant opponent of Vladimir Putin for several yearsin which he has faced five different sentences, three of which have led to prison sentences.
The last process in which Navalny was linked to an intramural penalty faced him in 2021, when in January he was arrested as soon as he made landfall in Russia after having recovered from a poisoning attempt in Germany for which he blamed the Kremlin.
In that occasion, Navalny was also prosecuted on charges of extremism which were applied retroactively to activities carried out since 2011 by his anti-corruption foundation.
With AP, Reuters and EFE.
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