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Russian government critic Alexei Navalny used yesterday’s appearance in the controversial court case to launch a new attack on President Vladimir Putin. Putin will go down in history as “Vladimir, the poisoner of his underwear,” Navalny said, recalling once again that he barely survived a poison attack.
Unsurprisingly, the verdict in the internationally heavily criticized trial was harsh: Navalny has to be in prison for 3.5 years – in prison he will spend two and a half years – the maximum sentence minus the time he has already spent under house arrest.
Even before the trial began, arrests had been made in lines around the Moscow court. Police cordons blocked access to the court. Navalny’s case was negotiated in the context of new massive retaliation: almost 5,800 Russians were arrested during Sunday’s protests. Hundreds of people waited in buses yesterday in front of crowded police stations for their luck. Many standing without food. Hundreds more were added during the day.
Legal questions
The internal process was held together by a chain of legal doubts. It was the question whether Nawalny’s stay in Germany after his poisoning was a valid reason for not having fulfilled his obligation to report to an FSIN inspection in Moscow. In 2014, he was sentenced to 3.5 years of probation for alleged fraud. Among other things, the court ignored the statement of the allegedly damaged company “Yves Rocher Vostok” that Navalny had not caused him any financial damage.
The European Court of Human Rights also claimed that the Russian judiciary had violated the right of Navalny and his co-accused brother to a fair trial and punished them without a legal basis. Russia paid the Navalny brothers 76,000 euros in compensation. However, the Supreme Court upheld the verdict. Navalny’s probationary period ended on December 30. He was still in Germany. On December 28, the FSIN announced that Navalny was ignoring parole requirements and threatened consequences. Navalny ignored the warnings, flew to Russia on January 17, and was immediately arrested.
Another ten years in prison?
After yesterday’s trial, the Russian investigative commission has already opened a new criminal proceeding against him: as head of the anti-corruption foundation FBK, he had alienated four million euros in donations for personal purposes. Navalny then faces another ten years in prison for serious fraud.
Article of
Stefan scholl
