The final sentence will be known on August 4. Twenty years in prison were required, Thursday, July 20, against Alexeï Navalny. Already imprisoned for “fraud” since January 2021, the main opponent of Russian President Vladimir Putin has been on trial for “extremism”. His trial has been held behind closed doors since June 19 in a highly secure penal colony, located 250 km east of Moscow.
“Sooner or later (Russia) will get up. And it’s up to us to know what it will be based on in the future.”said Alexei Navalny during his trial, according to comments broadcast by his collaborators on his Telegram account. The 47-year-old anti-corruption activist also denounced the war in Ukraine and the “tens of thousands dead, in the most stupid and senseless war of the 21st century”.
The opponent, who narrowly survived a poisoning in 2020 of which he accuses the Kremlin, risks up to 30 years in prison in this case. The European Union reacted to the indictment by announcingin the process, having sanctioned 12 individuals responsible for “serious violations of human rights”, including the head of the prison where Alexei Navalny is detained.