A Moscow court on Saturday rejected Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s appeal against his prison sentence, even when the country faced an order from a European rights court to release the Kremlin’s most important enemy.
Speaking before the verdict, Navalny asked the Russians to face the Kremlin in a fiery speech that mixes references to the Bible and “Harry Potter”.
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A court of first instance sentenced Navalny earlier this month to two years and eight months in prison for violating the terms of his probation while recovering in Germany from a nervous agent poisoning he attributes to the Kremlin. Russian authorities rejected the charge.
Navalny, 44, an anti-corruption crusader and President Vladimir Putin’s most vocal critic, appealed the prison sentence and called for his release. The judge at the Moscow City Court on Saturday reduced his sentence only slightly to just over two and a half years in prison, ruling that a month and a half that Navalny spent under house arrest in early 2015 will be deducted from his sentence.
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny gestures while in a cage at the Babuskinsky District Court in Moscow, Russia, Saturday, February 20, 2021. (AP Photo / Alexander Zemlianichenko)
The activist’s arrest and detention sparked a huge wave of protests across Russia. The authorities responded with strong repression, detaining about 11,000 people, many of whom were fined or sentenced to prison terms ranging from seven to 15 days.
Speaking before the verdict, Navalny referred to the Bible, as well as “Harry Potter” and the animated series “Rick and Morty”, while urging the Russians to resist pressure from the authorities and challenge the Kremlin to build a more just and prosperous country. .
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“The government’s task is to scare him and then persuade him that he is alone,” he said. “Our Voldemort in his palace also wants me to feel isolated,” he added, in a reference to Putin.
“To live is to risk everything,” he continued. “Otherwise, you are just an inert piece of molecules randomly assembled adrift wherever the universe blows you.”
Navalny also addressed the judge and the prosecutor, arguing that they could have a much better life in a new Russia.
“Imagine how wonderful life would be without constant lies,” he said. “Imagine how good it would be to work as a judge when no one could call you and give you instructions on which verdicts to give.”
He insisted that he was unable to report to the authorities, according to his probation requirements, while he was convalescing in Germany after his poisoning, emphasizing that he returned to Russia immediately after his health allowed.
“I was not hiding,” he said. “The whole world knew where I was.”
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Navalny said he was an atheist before, but he came to believe in God, adding that his faith helped him face his challenges. He said he believed the Bible saying that those who are hungry and thirsty for justice are blessed and that he did not regret returning home.
A police van carrying Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny, on the left, escorted by road police vehicles arrives at the Babushkinsky district court before his trial begins in Moscow, Russia, early Saturday, February 20, 2021. (AP Photo / Alexander Zemlianichenko)
“Although our country is built on injustice and we all face it, we also see that millions of people want righteousness,” Navalny told the court. “They want justice and sooner or later they will have it.”
Russia rejected Western criticism of Navalny’s arrest and the crackdown on demonstrations as meddling in its internal affairs.
In a decision on Tuesday, the European Court of Human Rights ordered the Russian government to release Navalny, citing “the nature and extent of the applicant’s life risk”. The Strasbourg-based court noted that Navalny contested the Russian authorities’ argument that they had taken sufficient measures to safeguard his life and well-being in custody after the attack by the nervous agent.
The Russian government rejected the demand from the Strasbourg-based court, describing the decision as illegal and “unacceptable” interference in Russian affairs.
In the past, Moscow has followed the ECHR’s decisions by awarding damages to Russian citizens who have challenged verdicts in Russian courts, but has never faced a demand from the European court to release a convict.
In a sign of its longstanding annoyance with the Strasbourg court’s verdicts, Russia passed a constitutional amendment last year declaring the priority of national law over international law. Russian authorities can now use this provision to reject the ECHR’s decision.
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Later on Saturday, Navalny will also face prosecution in a separate case on charges of defaming a World War II veteran. Navalny, who called the 94-year-old veteran and others featured in a pro-Kremlin video “corrupt goofs”, “people without conscience” and “traitors”, dismissed the allegations of slander and described them as part of official efforts to downplay it.