A still image taken from a video shows Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, accused of violating the terms of a suspended sentence for embezzlement, during the announcement of a court verdict in Moscow, Russia, on February 2, 2021.
Simonovsky District Court | via Reuters
On Tuesday, a Russian court handed opposition politician Alexei Navalny a three-and-a-half-year prison sentence for parole violations, charges he and his team say are forged and politically motivated.
The Moscow prison service requested the sentence on Monday, saying it violated the terms of a suspended sentence on fraud charges it received in 2014.
The judge said on Tuesday that the year Navalny has spent under house arrest will be deducted from his sentence.
Navalny, a leading critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, was already serving 30 days in prison for violations of parole after his arrest on January 17. He had returned to Russia from Germany, where he had been treated for nerve agent poisoning that occurred last August.
The opposition leader accused Putin of ordering Novichok’s nerve agent poisoning, but Putin and the Kremlin denied any involvement.
Protests
Since Navalny’s return to Russia and his immediate detention, demonstrations have erupted across the country in the past two weeks, with thousands protesting against Navalny’s treatment and demanding his release, as well as protesting against corruption and kleptocracy.
The protests resulted in violent police crackdowns and thousands of arrests and fines, including Navalny’s wife, Yulia.
European and American officials have also called for Navalny’s immediate release, but so far they have not punished Russia. The country is already operating under Western sanctions for its annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea in 2014, interference in the 2016 US elections and a 2018 nerve agent attack in the UK. Despite evidence to the contrary, Russia denies involvement in the last two events.
Sanctions
In late January, the EU said it would avoid imposing new sanctions if Navalny was released.
At noon on Tuesday, the police arrested nearly 100 people who gathered in front of the Moscow court while he considered the prison sentence, said the protest monitoring group OVD-Info. Reuters said its reporters saw the riot police detaining about 60 Navalny supporters.
Navalny watched Tuesday’s legal proceedings from inside a glass cage in the courtroom. He praised his wife, reported Reuters, who was fined the day before for participating in a protest.
“They said you seriously violated public order and were a bad girl. I am proud of you,” said Navalny, according to the news agency.