Alexei Navalny, a Russian opposition figure, was sentenced to about 2.5 years in prison, officially for violating parole while recovering from an assassination attempt in Germany.
Driving the news: A 3.5-year suspended sentence dated 2014 – stemming from charges that were widely seen as politically motivated – was turned into a prison sentence, minus the 10 months that Navalny previously spent under house arrest. His arrest last month, after his return to Russia, sparked widespread protests over the past two weekends.
- Navalny went to court before his sentence was announced on Tuesday, describing the charges against him as completely fabricated and motivated by the “fear of the man in the bunker” – Vladimir Putin.
- Navalny made his name as a video blogger and anti-corruption activist, becoming perhaps the biggest thorn in Putin’s side.
- Even after Navalny’s arrest, his organization released a viral video two weeks ago accusing Putin of running a “billion dollar palace”.
The most recently: Navalny made a heart-shaped hand gesture to his wife Yulia while his sentence was read.
- His organization called for immediate protests near the Moscow Kremlin.
This is breaking news and will be updated.