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Navalny had violated probation, it was said to justify it. Lawyers for the 44-year-old man immediately announced his appeal. The process was considered politically motivated. After the verdict, his confidants called for more protests in the capital. Over the past two weekends, tens of thousands of people across the country demonstrated against the head of state and more than 5,000 were arrested.
During the several hours of the trial, the police repeatedly detained people on Tuesday. According to OWD-Info, there were 246 arrests in St. Petersburg. There were protests and people were arrested in other cities.
During the protests, the crowd chanted “Freedom” and “Putin is a thief!” The protesters accused President Vladimir Putin of robbing them of their democratic freedoms. The security forces brutally attacked the mostly young protesters, arresting many of them for hours. According to eyewitnesses, the police beat the protesters with rubber batons, among other things. Videos published by the Russian media showed the protesters being followed by the police through the streets and also to the subway. The videos also showed protesters being pulled from taxis by police.
Journalists were once again targeted by the emergency services. There were several arrests. A video showed how an OMON anti-terrorist special police officer struck a media representative who was lying on the ground. Already on Sunday there were international criticisms of the police violence.
A Moscow court ruled Tuesday that Navalny, who had been treated after a poison attack in Germany, must now serve a suspended sentence in a penal colony. A previous house arrest was lifted from his suspended sentence of three and a half years. According to Navalny’s lawyer, Olga Mikhailova, this amounts to “approximately” two years and eight months in prison. He announced that he wanted to appeal the verdict.
Video: Krisai (ORF) on the protests in Russia
The sentence caused an international jump. The Russian government denied international criticism of the verdict as “interference.” Russian news agencies quoted a Foreign Ministry spokesperson as saying that the demands of “Western colleagues” for Navalny’s release are “unrelated to reality.”
Navalny had vehemently opposed his conviction at the court hearing and called on the Russians to resist Putin. Again he blamed the head of state for the attack he perpetrated.
The opposition activist, who specializes in corruption investigations, was sentenced to three and a half years in prison in 2014 on embezzlement charges, but the sentence was suspended on probation. Among other things, the 44-year-old was accused of failing to report to the authorities twice a month during his stay in Germany.
The Kremlin critic denied in court that he violated the terms of probation. He said he had given the Russian authorities his German address. Navalny was taken to Germany after the poison attack, which took place in Siberia, and nearly killed him.
Navalny was arrested at the Moscow airport on January 17, immediately after his return from Germany, and sentenced to 30 days in prison in an emergency procedure. It was one of several shorter prison sentences against Navalny, but he has never been incarcerated for extended periods such as the nearly three years now ahead.
