(CNN) – A court in Moscow sent Alexey Navalny to prison for two and a half years on Tuesday, in a heated hearing in which the opponent ridiculed claims that he violated his terms of probation while in a coma and denounced the President of Russia. suggested as ‘Putin the Poison Mixer’. .
The decision is likely to provoke anger among Navalny supporters as tens of thousands of Russians have left for the protests over the past two weekends, many demanding the activist’s release.
Navalny was detained two weeks ago on his return to Moscow from Berlin, charged with breaching his probation under a 2014 suspended sentence for embezzlement, a case that has been dismissed on political grounds.
WATCH: Kremlin critic Alexey Navalny mocked in court claims he failed to communicate with authorities while in a coma
Navalny was given a suspended sentence of three and a half years in the 2014 case, along with five years of probation. On Tuesday, the court ruled that he had violated the terms of his probation and ordered his suspended sentence to be replaced by a prison sentence. As part of the case, the judge took into account Navalny’s 11 months under house arrest.
Navalny, who has always been a stone in Putin’s shoes, spent five months in Germany recovering from Novichok poisoning before returning to Moscow on January 17. He blamed the Russian security forces and Putin himself, allegations the Kremlin has repeatedly denied.
In court, Navalny demanded to know how he could have better informed the authorities about his whereabouts while he was in a coma.
“Can you explain to me how else I should have fulfilled the conditions of my probation and indicate where I am?” He said from his glass case in court.
WATCH: Protesters in Russia protest Alexey Navalny’s arrest