Navalny’s team immediately called on supporters to protest in central Moscow. (Archive)
Moscow:
A Moscow court on Tuesday jailed the Kremlin’s most prominent critic, Alexei Navalny, for nearly three years, prompting fierce condemnation from the West and calling for his immediate release.
The court’s decision to convert a 2014 suspended sentence into an actual jail term will see Navalny, a 44-year-old anti-corruption activist who accuses the Kremlin of poisoning him last year, serve a long prison term for the first time.
Britain, France, Germany, the United States and the European Union denounced the ruling, as Moscow accused the West of interfering in its affairs.
Navalny supporters called for more demonstrations over the ruling, after thousands of people joined national protests against Navalny’s arrest over the past two weekends.
The case presents one of the most serious challenges for the Kremlin in years, with some in the West calling for new sanctions against Russia.
Judge Natalya Repnikova ordered that a three-and-a-half-year suspended sentence Navalny received on fraud charges in 2014 be changed on time in a penal colony, an AFP journalist said in court.
He was charged with violating the conditions of probation by refusing to register with prison officials and was arrested when he flew back to Moscow on January 17 from Germany, where he spent months recovering from the poisoning.
Navalny said it was impossible to make the appointments while he was in Germany, but the judge said he had skipped the meetings even before the poisoning.
Navalny had spent time under house arrest after the 2014 conviction, which was denounced by the European Court of Human Rights, and Repnikova said that would count as time served.
His lawyer Olga Mikhailova told reporters that this meant that he would now serve two years and eight months in prison.
His legal team planned to appeal, he said, and Navalny was expected to remain in custody in Moscow during the appeal.
‘Poisoner of underpants’
The Navalny Anti-Corruption Fund immediately called a protest in central Moscow.
Several hundred of his supporters marched through the streets and AFP journalists saw police in riot gear detaining at least 15 people in a central square near the Kremlin.
In a fierce court speech before the ruling, Navalny accused Putin of trying to intimidate his critics and mocked the Russian leader for allegations that the Novichok nerve agent used to poison him had been placed in his underwear.
“They are putting one person behind bars to scare millions,” Navalny said.
While Putin wanted to be seen as a great statesman, Navalny said, the Russian leader instead “will go down in history as a poisoner of underwear.”
After the ruling, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on Russia to “immediately and unconditionally release Mr. Navalny,” warning that Washington and its allies “will hold Russia accountable for failing to defend the rights of its citizens.”
French President Emmanuel Macron also called for his release, saying that “respect for human rights and democratic freedom are not negotiable.”
British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab called the ruling “perverse”, while German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said the decision was “a severe blow to fundamental freedoms and the rule of law in Russia. “.
The European Union’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, who is due to visit Moscow later this week, said the ruling “goes against Russia’s international commitments on the rule of law and fundamental freedoms.”
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova described the Western reaction as “disconnected from reality”, adding: “There is no need to interfere in the internal affairs of a sovereign state.”
Tens of thousands have taken to the streets of Moscow and other Russian cities over the past two weekends to call for Navalny’s release, prompting a massive police crackdown that saw several thousand people arrested.
Police arrested more protesters outside the courtroom and on the streets of Moscow on Tuesday, with OVD-Info, a group that monitors arrests and opposition protests, saying nearly 500 people had been detained.
Exposing corruption
While he never held elective office, Navalny has made a name for himself with anti-corruption investigations exposing the wealthy lifestyles of the Russian elite.
Two days after he was placed in pretrial detention last month, his team released an investigation into an opulent seaside property that Navalny claims was handed over to Putin through a $ 1 billion plan funded by associates. nearby that run state-owned companies.
The research was published in conjunction with a YouTube video report that has garnered more than 100 million views.
Putin denied owning the property and last week a billionaire businessman close to the Russian leader, Arkady Rotenberg, said he owned the property and was converting it into a hotel.
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