Putin critic Alexei Navalny gets 19 more years added to his prison sentence
- The Russian opposition politician – President Vladimir Putin’s fiercest domestic critic – is already serving 11 years for fraud and other charges he says are bogus
- The political movement of the former blogger, lawyer and corruption investigator has been outlawed and declared ‘extremist’
Jailed Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny had an extra 19 years added to his prison sentence on Friday in a criminal case that he and his supporters said had been trumped up to keep him behind bars and out of politics for even longer.
Navalny, 47, President Vladimir Putin’s fiercest domestic critic, is already serving sentences totalling 11-1/2 years on fraud and other charges that he says are also bogus. His political movement has been outlawed and declared “extremist”.
A court at his IK-6 penal colony in Melekhovo, about 235km (146 miles) east of Moscow, on Friday brought to a close his trial on six separate charges, including inciting and financing extremist activity and creating an extremist organisation.
The audio feed from the court, where the trial had been held behind closed doors, was so poor that it was practically impossible to make out what the judge was saying.
Journalists were not let into the courtroom, but able to watch proceedings on CCTV from a special media room nearby, although the feed was cut almost as soon as the sentence was pronounced.
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Navalny’s team said the judge had added 19 years to his existing terms. State prosecutors had asked for 20.