A still image taken from the video footage shows Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, accused of serving the terms of a sentence suspended for embezzlement, during the announcement of a court verdict in Moscow, Russia, on 2 February 2021.
Simonovsky District Court | via Reuters
A Russian court on Tuesday sentenced opposition politician Alexei Navalny to 3 and a half years in prison for parole violations, charges he and his team say are cheating and politically motivated.
The Moscow prison service requested the sentence on Monday, saying it violated the terms of a suspended sentence for fraud charges it received in 2014.
The judge said Tuesday that the year Navalny already spent under house arrest will be deducted from his jail term.
Navalny, one of the main critics with Russian President Vladimir Putin, was already serving 30 days in prison for parole violations after his arrest on January 17th. He had returned to Russia from Germany, where he had been treated for a nerve poisoning that took place last August.
The opposition leader has accused Putin of ordering Novichok nerve poisoning, but Putin and the Kremlin have denied any involvement.
Protests
Since Navalny’s return to Russia and his immediate arrest, protests have erupted across the country over the past two weekends, with thousands protesting against Navalny’s treatment and demanding his release, in addition to criticizing corruption and kleptocracy.
Protests have sparked 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 have so far stopped punishing Russia. The country is already operating under Western sanctions for the annexation of Crimea to Ukraine in 2014, which was implicated in the 2016 US elections and a 2018 nervous breakdown in the UK. Despite evidence to the contrary, Russia denies participation in the latter two events.
Sanctions
In late January, the EU said it would move away from imposing new sanctions if Navalny were released.
At noon on Tuesday, police had arrested nearly 100 people who had gathered in front of the Moscow court while considering the prison sentence, according to the protest control group OVD-Info. Reuters said its reporters saw riot police detaining some 60 Navalny supporters.
Navalny watched Tuesday’s court proceedings from inside a glass cage in court. He praised his wife, Reuters reported, who was fined the day before for participating in a protest.
“They said you had seriously violated public order and it was bad. I’m proud of you,” Navalny said, the news agency reported.