A still image from video footage shows Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny accused of ignoring the terms of a suspended sentence for embezzlement during the announcement of a court ruling in Moscow, Russia, on Feb. 2, 2021.
Simonovsky Court | via Reuters
A Russian court on Tuesday sentenced opposition politician Alexei Navalny to 3½ years in prison for parole violations. The accusations he and his team are saying are fabricated and politically motivated.
The Moscow prison service requested the sentence on Monday, saying he had violated the terms of a suspended sentence for allegations of fraud he received in 2014.
The judge said on Tuesday that the year Navalny has already spent under house arrest will be deducted from his imprisonment.
Navalny, a leading critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has already served a 30-day sentence for parole violations following his arrest on January 17. 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 the Novichok nerve poisoning, but Putin and the Kremlin have denied any involvement.
Protests
Since Navalny’s return to Russia and his immediate detention, protests have broken out across the country over the past two weekends, with thousands protesting Navalny’s treatment and demanding his release, as well as statements against corruption and kleptocracy.
The protests have resulted in violent police crackdown and thousands of arrests and fines, including Navalny’s wife, Julia.
European and US 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 the 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine, meddling in the 2016 US elections and a 2018 nervous breakdown 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 wait to impose new sanctions if Navalny were released.
On Tuesday afternoon, police had detained nearly 100 people who had gathered outside the Moscow court while contemplating jail time, the protest security group OVD-Info said. Reuters said its reporters saw riot police detain about 60 Navalny supporters.
Navalny watched Tuesday’s legal process from a glass cage in court. He praised his wife, Reuters reported, who had been fined the previous day for participating in a protest.
‘They said you had seriously violated public order and that you were a bad girl. I’m proud of you, ”said Navalny, the news agency reported.