The Moscow City Court has sentenced Alexei Navalny in a criminal case on the creation of an extremist community.
- What was Navalny charged with?
- Navalny’s criminal cases
Navalny was sentenced to 19 years in prison in a special regime colony.
It is reported by TASS.
What was Navalny charged with?
As follows from the verdict, Navalny was found guilty under Part 3 of Article 282.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (creating an extremist community and participating in it), as well as organizing an extremist community, financing extremist activities, public calls for it, involving minors in actions dangerous to their lives. .
The public prosecutor demanded a sentence of 20 years in prison, the court appointed 19 years in a special regime colony.
Such colonies contain those sentenced to life and with a particularly dangerous recidivism. A special regime involves the restriction of freedom of movement, communication, and spending free time.
The case was considered by the Moscow City Court, but the hearings were held in strict regime correctional colony No. 6 in the Vladimir region, where Navalny is serving his sentence in another criminal case.
The trial was held behind closed doors due to the presence of secret witnesses in the case and fears of provocations against the participants in the proceedings.
One of the witnesses for the defense was Ilya Yashin (recognized as a foreign agent in Russia). The court interrogated Yashin via video link, as he is serving a sentence in another colony for disseminating false information about the Russian Armed Forces.
Navalny’s criminal cases
A criminal case for organizing an extremist community was initiated against Navalny, Ivan Zhdanov (recognized as a foreign agent in Russia) and Leonid Volkov (recognized as a foreign agent in Russia), on the fact of participation in an extremist community – against Georgy Alburov (recognized as a foreign agent in Russia) , Lyubov Sobol (recognized as a foreign agent in Russia) and others. Most of the defendants are outside Russia.
According to the Investigative Committee of Russia, no later than 2014, Navalny created the Anti-Corruption Foundation organization (recognized as extremist and banned in Russia) and led it to carry out activities aimed at undermining state integrity and public security and changing the foundations of the constitutional order in Russia.
During this period, Volkov and Zhdanov joined Navalny’s criminal activities. To ensure the activities and financing of this community, to involve new participants and create conditions for the commission of crimes of an extremist orientation, the organizers established 8 NPOs and commercial organizations that were structural divisions of the FBK.
In addition to cases related to extremism, a case of terrorism was also initiated against Navalny, as he himself announced at one of the meetings of the Basmanny Court. According to Navalny’s lawyer Vadim Kobzev, we are talking about the rehabilitation of Nazism and calls for terrorism.
Navalny, previously convicted twice on probation, was put on the wanted list for repeated violations of the conditions of serving a sentence in the Yves Rocher criminal case. He was detained in January 2021 at Sheremetyevo after returning from Germany. On February 2, 3.5 years of probation were replaced by a court with a real one in a general regime colony.
On May 24, the Moscow City Court recognized Navalny’s sentence in the case of fraud in raising funds for an election campaign and insulting the court, issued by the Lefortovo Court of Moscow (9 years in a strict regime colony), as legal.
The court also appointed Navalny a year and 8 months of restriction of freedom after his release and a fine of 1.2 million rubles.
The punishment was imposed taking into account Navalny’s past convictions in the case of libel against a WWII veteran and fraud.
