Alexei Navalny: Russian opposition leader handed further 19 year jail term

The jailed Russian absorption person Alexei Navalny has been handed a further 19 twelvemonth jailhouse term, astatine a proceedings successful a distant penal colony.

Mr Navalny was recovered blameworthy of founding and backing an extremist organisation and activities. He denies the charges.

He is already serving a nine-year word for parole violations, fraud and contempt of court. The charges are wide viewed arsenic politically motivated.

Since his jailing successful 2021, Mr Navalny has been held astatine a distant penal colony.

A hallway successful the prison, Penal Colony No 6 successful Melekhovo, which is 240km (150 miles) eastbound of Moscow, was turned into a makeshift courtroom for the Kremlin's astir vocal critic. The proceedings were held down closed doors.

Russian authorities prosecutors had called for a 20-year situation condemnation for Mr Navalny successful an adjacent much restrictive "special authorities colony". Such prisons are usually reserved for Russia's astir unsafe criminals.

In a connection posted connected societal media up of the verdict, Mr Navalny expressed his content that helium would beryllium handed a "Stalinist" benignant situation word designed to frighten different imaginable dissenters.

On paper, it is simply a Moscow tribunal that is proceeding the case. But the determination to clasp a distant proceedings successful a situation suggests that the Russian authorities wanted to debar the publicity that would inevitably travel with transporting Mr Navalny to the Russian capital.

When Mr Navalny delivered his last connection 2 weeks ago, determination was nary video oregon audio signaling of his words. But the substance of his code criticising the Russian authorities and the warfare successful Ukraine was made public. His supporters, including Russian actors and musicians successful exile, work it retired and posted online.

Mr Navalny could yet look further charges. He says that investigators person told him to expect different proceedings connected coercion charges.

For much than a decade, Mr Navalny sought to exposure corruption astatine the bosom of Russian power. His video investigations person received tens of millions of views online.

A charismatic campaigner, helium seemed to beryllium the lone Russian absorption person susceptible of mobilising radical successful ample numbers crossed Russia to instrumentality portion successful anti-government protests.

But successful 2020, helium was poisoned successful Siberia by what Western laboratories aboriginal confirmed to beryllium a nervus agent.

After recovering from the attack, Mr Navalny returned to Russia successful 2021 contempt warnings that helium could look arrest. He was instantly arrested upon his accomplishment astatine Moscow's Vnukovo airport.