A still image taken from video shows Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who is accused of violating the conditions of a suspended sentence for embezzlement, during the announcement of a court verdict in Moscow, Russia, February 2, 2021.
Simonovsky District Court through Reuters
A Russian court on Tuesday sentenced opposition politician Alexei Navalny to three and a half years in prison for conditional violations, allegations he and his team say are politically motivated.
The Moscow penitentiary service demanded the sentence on Monday, saying it violated the terms of a suspended sentence for the fraud allegations it received in 2014.
Navalny, a senior critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, was already serving a 30-day prison sentence for conditional violations following his January 17 arrest. He returned to Russia from Germany, where he had been treated for a nerve poisoning that took place in August last year.
The opposition leader accused Putin of ordering poisoning with nerve agent Novichok, 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 over the past two weekends, with thousands protesting against Navalny’s treatment and demanding his release, as well as attacks on corruption and kleptocracy.
The protests led to violent police crackdowns and thousands of arrests and fines, including Navalny’s wife, Yulia.
European and American officials also demanded the immediate release of Navalny, but so far they have stopped punishing Russia. The country is already operating under Western sanctions for the annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, interfering in the 2016 US elections and the attack on a 2018 nerve agent in the UK. Despite evidence to the contrary, Russia denies involvement in the last two events.
Sanctions
At the end of January, the EU said it would drop new sanctions if Navalny was released.
As of noon, on Tuesday, police detained nearly 100 people who had gathered in front of a Moscow court while considering the term of imprisonment, the OVD-Info protest monitoring group said. Reuters said its reporters saw anti-protest police detaining about 60 Navalny supporters.
Navalny followed Tuesday’s legal proceedings inside a glass cage in court. He praised his wife, Reuters reported, which was fined the day before for participating in a protest.
“They said you seriously violated public order and that you were a bad girl. I am proud of you,” Navalny told the news agency.