Lawyers representing Navalny sentenced to prison terms
Three lawyers representing Alexei Navalny were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 3.5 to 5.5 years for extremist activities. The verdict was announced on Friday, the anniversary of Navalny's return to Russia and imprisonment.
The lawyers, Vadim Kobzev, Alexei Lipcer, and Igor Sergunin, who defended the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, were convicted on charges of extremist activity and sentenced to prison terms ranging from 3.5 to 5.5 years. They were arrested in the fall of 2023. The verdict in their case was announced on January 17th, aligning with the anniversary of Navalny's return to Russia and his subsequent imprisonment.
In addition to their prison sentences, the convicted lawyers were prohibited from practicing law for three years after release.
"We are being judged because we conveyed Navalny’s ideas to other people," said Vadim Kobzev during the trial. Relatives of the convicted claim the authorities accused them of supplying Navalny's supporters with information obtained from him.
Yulia Navalnaya, Alexei Navalny's widow, has called for the release of the convicted lawyers. Many view this case as a tactic to pressure the opposition and deter legal defenders from taking on political cases. Additionally, arrest warrants have been issued for two other Navalny lawyers who managed to leave Russia before their arrests.
Organizations associated with Navalny were outlawed in 2021 and labeled as extremist. Navalny, a well-known critic of Putin, was arrested in January 2021 and received a cumulative sentence of over 30 years in prison. In February 2024, reports emerged that he had died in a labor camp located beyond the Arctic Circle.
The lawyers' verdict was initially scheduled to be issued a week earlier, but the court rescheduled it for January 17th.
"Coincidence, sure," commented Ivan Zhdanov, director of the Anti-Corruption Foundation.
