MELEKHOVO, Russia — A Russian court docket convicted imprisoned opposition chief Alexei Navalny of extremism fees and sentenced him to 19 years in jail Friday. Navalny is already serving a nine-year time period on a wide range of fees that he says have been politically motivated.

The new fees towards the politician associated to the actions of Navalny‘s anti-corruption basis and statements by his high associates. It was his fifth prison conviction, all of which his supporters see as a deliberate Kremlin technique to silence its most ardent opponent.

The prosecution had demanded a 20-year jail sentence, and the politician himself stated beforehand that he anticipated to obtain a prolonged time period.

Navalny is already serving a nine-year sentence for fraud and contempt of court docket. He additionally was sentenced in 2021 to 2 and a half years in jail for a parole violation. The extremism trial befell behind closed doorways within the penal colony east of Moscow the place he's imprisoned.

Navalny appeared within the courtroom Friday afternoon, sporting jail garb and searching gaunt, however with a defiant smile on his face. As the decide learn out the decision, the politician stood alongside his legal professionals and his co-defendant together with his arms crossed, listening with a critical expression on his face.

The 47-year-old Navalny is President Vladimir Putin’s fiercest foe and has uncovered official corruption and arranged main anti-Kremlin protests. He was arrested in January 2021 upon returning to Moscow after recuperating in Germany from nerve agent poisoning that he blamed on the Kremlin.

Navalny‘s allies said the extremism charges retroactively criminalized all of the anti-corruption foundation’s actions since its creation in 2011. In 2021, Russian authorities outlawed the inspiration and the huge community of Navalny’s places of work in Russian areas as extremist organizations, exposing anybody concerned to attainable prosecution.

One of Navalny‘s associates, Daniel Kholodny, stood trial alongside him after being relocated from a distinct jail. The prosecution requested a 10-year jail sentence for Kholodny to 10 years in jail.

Navalny rejected all the fees towards him as politically motivated and accused the Kremlin of searching for to maintain him behind bars for all times.

On the eve of the decision listening to, Navalny launched a press release on social media, presumably by means of his staff, by which he stated he anticipated his newest sentence to be “huge … a Stalinist term,” referring to the Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin.

In the assertion, Navalny referred to as on Russians to “personally” resist and inspired them to assist political prisoners, distribute flyers or go to a rally. He informed Russians that they might select a secure method to withstand, however he added that “there is shame in doing nothing. It’s shameful to let yourself be intimidated.”

The politician is presently serving his sentence in a maximum-security jail — Penal Colony No. 6 within the city of Melekhovo, about 230 kilometers (greater than 140 miles) east of Moscow.

He has spent months in a tiny one-person cell, additionally referred to as a “punishment cell,” for purported disciplinary violations, equivalent to an alleged failure to correctly button his jail garments, appropriately introduce himself to a guard or to scrub his face at a specified time.

On social media, Navalny‘s associates have urged supporters to come back to Melekhovo on Friday to specific solidarity with the politician.

About 40 supporters from totally different Russian cities gathered outdoors the colony in Melekhovo on Friday, one in all them informed The Associated Press within the messaging app Telegram. Yelena, who spoke provided that her final title is withheld for security causes, stated the supporters weren’t allowed into the colony, however determined to remain outdoors till the decision as introduced: “People think it’s important to be nearby at least like that, for moral support. We will be waiting.”

The prosecution requested the court docket to order the politician to serve any new jail time period in a “special regime” penal colony, a time period that refers back to the Russian prisons with the very best degree of safety and the harshest inmate restrictions.

Russian regulation stipulates that solely males given life sentences or “especially dangerous recidivists” are despatched to these kinds of prisons.

The nation has many fewer “special regime” colonies in comparison with different kinds of grownup prisons, in keeping with state penitentiary service knowledge: 35 colonies for “dangerous recidivists” and 6 for males imprisoned for all times. Maximum-security colonies are probably the most widespread kind, with 251 presently in operation.

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