A still image taken from the video footage shows Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who is accused of insulting the terms of a suspended sentence for embezzlement, during the announcement of a court ruling in Moscow , Russia, February 2, 2021.
Simonovsky District Court | via Reuters
A Russian court on Tuesday sentenced opposition politician Alexei Navalny to 3 years in prison for violating parole. The charges, according to him and his team, are trump card and politically motivated.
The Moscow prison service requested the sentence on Monday, saying it violated the terms of a suspended sentence due to fraud charges he received in 2014.
Navalny, a leading critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, is already serving a 30-day prison sentence for parole violations following his January 17 arrest. He returned from Germany to Russia, where he was treated for a nerve agent that poisoning took place last August.
The opposition leader accused Putin of ordering poisoning from the Novichok nerve agent, but Putin and the Kremlin denied any involvement.
Demonstrations
Since Navalny’s return to Russia and his immediate detention, protests have erupted across the country over the past two weekends, with thousands protesting against Navalny’s treatment and release, as well as 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 not been punished. The country is already facing Western sanctions for the annexation of Crimea in 2014 in Ukraine, which will interfere in the 2016 US election and a 2018 nerve agent attack in the UK. Despite the contrary, Russia denies involvement in the latter two events.
Sanctions
At the end of January, the EU said it would refrain from imposing new sanctions if Navalny was released.
Police on Tuesday detained nearly 100 people who had gathered outside the court in Moscow as they consider imprisonment. Reuters said its reporters saw riot police detaining about 60 Navalny supporters.
Navalny watched Tuesday’s lawsuits from a glass cage in court. He praised his wife, Reuters reported, who was fined the previous day for taking part in a protest.
“They said you seriously violated public order and are a bad girl. I am proud of you,” Navalny said.