O most prominent opposition leader in Russia, Alexey Navalny lost, this Tuesday (26), his appeal against a new 19-year prison sentence, which extends his total sentence to more than 30 years.
After a hearing closed to the press, despite protests from Navalny and his lawyers, he donned his black prison uniform and listened to judge Viktor Rogov list his convictions before telling him that his sentence remained unchanged.
Navalny, 47, will now face transfer to a “special regime” prison colony, the most severe degree of the Russian penal system, with the perspective of remain there until the age of 70.
He rejects all accusations against him, which over the years have ranged from fraud and contempt of court to a range of “extremist” activities, and claims they are attempts to silence his criticism of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Daniel Kholodny, a television technician who worked for Navalny, was sentenced to eight years in prison in August as part of the same trial. His appeal was also rejected this Tuesday.
“Alexei, see you later!” shouted Kholodny after the judge finished speaking. Navalny waved his hand in response.
“For all of us – his colleagues and friends – this is a constant pain,” Navalny’s advisor Leonid Volkov posted on platform X, formerly known as Twitter. “It is a constant challenge: to do everything we can every day to destroy the maniac in the Kremlin [Putin]”.
The Kremlin has tried to portray Navalny as a politically irrelevant figure, and Putin makes a point of never speaking his name. Moscow classifies the opponent as an extremist and, without providing evidence, claims that he is a puppet of the United States Central Intelligence Agency, the CIA.
Navalny is by far the best-known figure in Russia’s fractured opposition, and his supporters consider him a figure in the style of Nelson Mandela who will one day be released from prison to lead the country.
Its political movement has been banned, and its leading figures have been arrested or fled abroad as part of a crackdown on dissent that has intensified since Putin began his invasion of Ukraine last year.
Vladimir Kara-Murza, another outspoken critic of Putin’s government who was jailed for 25 years in April on charges of treason and lying about the war, was transferred last week to a maximum security penal colony in Siberia, according to his lawyer. .
Navalny’s last sentence of 19 years was imposed on August 4 after he was convicted of six charges relating to alleged extremist activities, all of which he denied.
See also: US is at war with Russia, says Putin’s minister
Source: CNN Brasil
Bruce Belcher is a seasoned author with over 5 years of experience in world news. He writes for online news websites and provides in-depth analysis on the world stock market. Bruce is known for his insightful perspectives and commitment to keeping the public informed.
