Russia: Navalny's new jail sentence is 'predictable but nonetheless shocking'

Amnesty analysis of fraud case against opposition leader concluded it was politically motivated 

He still faces further possible criminal cases as state reprisals continue 

‘Navalny faces nine years in prison for calling out the Russian elite’ - Marie Struthers

Responding to news that Russian opposition leader and prisoner of conscience Aleksei Navalny has been sentenced to nine further years in prison for his criticism of Vladimir Putin and peaceful political activism, Marie Struthers, Amnesty International’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia Director, said:

“This sentence us predictable but nonetheless shocking. 

“Navalny faces nine years in prison for calling out the Russian elite for corruption and abuse of power. 

“The world must not overlook this sentence and its significance amid the horrific human rights violations we have seen as a result of Russian aggression against Ukraine. 

“I applaud Navalny’s commitment to challenging corruption and other abuses, even in the face of years behind bars.”

Politically-motivated fraud case 

Earlier today, Moscow’s Lefortovo District Court delivered its verdict at a hearing held in penal colony IK-2 in Pokrov, Vladimir Region, where Navalny is serving his previous, arbitrary two-and-a-half-year sentence. He was found guilty of “fraud on an especially large scale” and “contempt of court”. Navalny was accused of siphoning off approximately £19,000 from donations to organisations he had founded. 

Amnesty has analysed the fraud case against Navalny and concluded that the prosecution was politically motivated and based on the arbitrary application of law.

Navalny still faces further reprisals from the Russian state. Last September, the authorities opened a new criminal case against him and his associates under the trumped-up charge of creating an “extremist association”. The Anti-Corruption Foundation and the Citizens’ Rights Protection Foundation, both founded by Navalny, were arbitrarily officially labelled “extremist” and banned in June 2021.