Aleksei Navalny, a prisoner of conscience and a leading figure in Russia’s political opposition movement, has been sentenced to 19 years to spend in a penal colony on trumped-up charges related to “extremism”. He will actually have to serve 10 years, in addition to the nine of the previous sentences.
Marie Struthers, Amnesty International’s Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, said:
“This new sentence against Aleksei Navalny is as if it were a life sentence imposed stealthily. It is also a sinister act of political revenge targeting not just Navalny, but opponents of the state across the country. The outcome of today’s farcical trial is just the latest example of the systematic oppression of Russian civil society, which has intensified since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year.”
“We urge the Russian authorities to end the unjust imprisonment of Aleksei Navalny and release him immediately and unconditionally. The world is watching what happens and we will continue to talk until justice is done and Navalny and all the other people unjustly imprisoned have regained their freedom,” concluded Marie Struthers.
Further information
On August 4, the Moscow court sentenced Aleksei Navalny to 19 years in penal colony on charges including financing and inciting “extremism” and “rehabilitating Nazi ideology”.
The trial took place at IK-6, a penal colony located in Melekhovo, Vladimir region, where Aleksei Navalny is already serving a nine-year sentence on politically motivated charges. Journalists were not allowed into the “court room” and had to follow the hearing via video link from a separate building. Several hearings were held behind closed doors for unsubstantiated reasons such as “security reasons”.
The new allegations are related to the activities of Navalny’s anti-corruption foundation, which was outlawed by the Russian authorities in 2021, and to statements made by its leading figures.
One of Navalny’s associates, Daniel Kholodny, was transferred from another prison to stand trial with him. Kholodny was found guilty of “participating in an extremist organization” and “financing extremist activities”. At the time of writing this press release, the length of his sentence was not yet known due to the poor quality of the video transmission of the court session.
The Anti-Corruption Foundation was legally registered in Russia before the imprisonment of Aleksei Navalny. Its arbitrary designation as an “extremist” organization provided the basis for the subsequent trial of Navalny and his associates for extremist-related crimes.
Amnesty International has raised concerns that Russian authorities have held Navalny in a “punishment cell” for alleged disciplinary violations.[They are also concerned about] a lack of adequate medical care and his deteriorating health.
The organization concluded that the treatment received in the prison constituted a form of torture or other inhumane treatment.