A Russian court on Tuesday found jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny guilty of additional charges and extended his sentence to nine years in a higher security prison as Moscow seeks to wipe out remaining pockets of dissent.
The sentencing came on the 27th day of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, with thousands killed and about 10 million displaced.
Following the verdict, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s most vocal domestic critic, who has been behind bars for more than a year, said that the Russian leader feared the truth.
Photo: AP
“Putin is afraid of the truth, I have always said this. Fighting censorship, relaying the truth to the people of Russia always remained our priority,” the 45-year-old opposition politician said in a post on Instagram after the sentencing.
With his trademark sense of humor, Navalny took the extension of his jail time on new charges of embezzlement and contempt of court in his stride, joking that his “space flight is being extended — my ship has gotten caught in a time loop.”
He also urged Russians to resist “these war criminals.”
He stood trial inside his penal colony in the town of Pokrov.
“Navalny committed fraud — the theft of property by an organized group,” Judge Margarita Kotova told the court.
The judge also found Navalny guilty of the less severe charge of contempt of court.
Navalny is to serve his new sentence in a strict-regime penal colony, which would place him in much harsher conditions.
His lawyers, Olga Mikhailova and Vadim Kobzev, were detained by police following the verdict, but were later freed.
Navalny’s defense team said that the new sentence replaces the one he is serving, meaning that he would not be freed for another eight years, instead of a year and a half.
Last year, the opposition leader was sentenced to two and a half years for violating parole for old fraud charges while recovering from a Novichok nerve agent poison attack that he blames on the Kremlin.
Navalny is also required to pay a fine of 1.2 million rubles (US$11,540) and upon his release he will have to abide by various restrictions on his movement and activities for a further 18 months.
His wife Yulia Navalnaya said she was proud of her husband.
“The figure 9 means nothing whatsoever,” she wrote on Instagram. “I love you, my dearest person in the world, and I have not stopped being proud of you for many, many years.”
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