A Moscow court on Saturday has rejected Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s appeal against his jail term, even though the country faces an order from the European Court of Justice to free the Kremlin’s main enemy .
Before the verdict, Navalny urged Russians to stand up for the Kremlin in a fiery speech that mixed references to the Bible and ‘Harry Potter’.
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A lower court earlier this month sentenced Navalny to two years and eight months in prison for violating the terms of his probation, while recovering in Germany from a poisoning of the nerve agent he blames on the Kremlin. Russian authorities have denied the allegations.
Navalny, 44, an anti-corruption crusader and President Vladimir Putin’s most outspoken critic, is appealing the jail sentence and asking to be released. The Moscow city court judge on Saturday reduced his sentence only slightly to just over 2 1/2 years in prison, and ruled that a month and a half spent early in house arrest on Navalny would be deducted from his sentence.
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny gestures while standing in a cage in Babuskinsky District Court in Moscow, Russia, on Saturday, February 20, 2021 (AP Photo / Alexander Zemlianichenko)
The arrest and imprisonment of the activist sparked a huge wave of protests in Russia. Authorities responded with extensive repression, arresting about 11,000 people, many of whom were fined or sentenced to seven to 15 days in prison.
Before the verdict, Navalny referred to the Bible as well as ‘Harry Potter’ and the animated sitcom ‘Rick and Morty’, while urging Russians to resist pressure from the authorities and challenge the Kremlin to a fairer and to build more prosperous land.
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“The government’s job is to scare you and then convince you that you are alone,” he said. “Our Voldemort in his palace also wants me to feel cut off,” he added, referring to Putin.
“To live is to risk it all,” he continued. “Otherwise you’re just an inert piece of random composite molecules floating everywhere the universe blows you.”
Navalny also addressed the judge and the prosecutor, arguing that they could have a much better life in a new Russia.
“Just imagine how wonderful life would be without constantly lying,” he said. “Imagine how wonderful it is to work as a judge when no one can call you and give you instructions on what statements to make.”
He insisted that he was unable to report to the authorities in accordance with his probationary requirements while recovering from his poisoning in Germany, stressing that he allowed his health to return to Russia immediately.
“I did not hide,” he said. “The whole world knew where I was.”
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Navalny said he was an atheist before, but that he believed in God, adding that his faith helped him meet his challenges. He said he believed the Bible that those who are hungry and thirsty for righteousness are blessed, and that he has no regrets about returning home.
A police van with Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny on the left, escorted by road police vehicles, arrives before the start of his trial in Moscow, Russia, early Saturday, February 20, 2021, at Babushkinsky District Court. (AP Photo / Alexander Zemlianichenko)
“Although our country is built on injustice and we all face it, we also see that millions of people want justice,” Navalny told the court. “They want justice and sooner or later they will have it.”
Russia has rejected Western criticism of Navalny’s arrest and the protests as interference in its internal affairs.
In a ruling Tuesday, the European Court of Human Rights ordered the Russian government to release Navalny, citing “the nature and extent of the risk to the applicant’s life.” The court in Strasbourg noted that Navalny disputed the argument of Russian authorities that they had taken adequate measures to protect his life and well-being in custody after the attack on the nerve agent.
The Russian government rejected the claim of the court in Strasbourg and described the ruling as illegal and “impermissible” interference in Russia’s affairs.
In the past, Moscow has heeded the rulings of the ECHR awarding compensation to Russian citizens who have challenged rulings in Russian courts, but the European court has never released the conviction.
In a sign of its years of annoyance with the rulings of the court in Strasbourg, Russia last year adopted a constitutional amendment declaring the priority of national legislation over international law. Russian authorities can now use the provision to reject the ruling of the ECHR.
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Later on Saturday, Navalny will also stand trial in a separate case on charges of defamation of a World War II veteran. Navalny, who called the 94-year-old veteran and other people in a pro-Kremlin video “corrupt stooges”, “people without conscience” and “traitors”, dismissed the defamation charges and described them as part of the official efforts to hom minag.