Support The Moscow Times!

Prosecutors Demand Extra 13-Year Prison Sentence for Alexei Navalny

teamnavalny

Russian state prosecutors requested a judge sentence Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny to an additional 13 years in prison on charges of fraud and contempt of court, the independent Novaya Gazeta newspaper reported Tuesday.

Navalny is currently on trial from prison, where he is serving a two-and-a-half year sentence. Russia’s most high-profile opposition figure, Navalny was poisoned in 2020 with a nerve agent while campaigning in Siberia.

He was immediately arrested upon his return to Russia in January 2021 following treatment in Germany and Russian authorities have since sought to extend his jail term, launching a number of cases against him over the last year.

Hours earlier, Navalny’s team released a video investigation claiming to have obtained call logs that allegedly show the Kremlin’s chief of public relations department calling judge Margarita Kotova  before and during his trials last month.

Responding to the request, Navalny’s chief aide Leonid Volkov said: "Alexei Navalny's sentence is well known: life in prison. Until one of two people's lives ends: Navalny's, or Vladimir Putin's. If Putin thinks he'll be there 13 more years, he's overestimating his own abilities."

Sign up for our free weekly newsletter

Our weekly newsletter contains a hand-picked selection of news, features, analysiss and more from The Moscow Times. You will receive it in your mailbox every Friday. Never miss the latest news from Russia. Preview
Subscribers agree to the Privacy Policy

A Message from The Moscow Times:

Dear readers,

We are facing unprecedented challenges. Russia's Prosecutor General's Office has designated The Moscow Times as an "undesirable" organization, criminalizing our work and putting our staff at risk of prosecution. This follows our earlier unjust labeling as a "foreign agent."

These actions are direct attempts to silence independent journalism in Russia. The authorities claim our work "discredits the decisions of the Russian leadership." We see things differently: we strive to provide accurate, unbiased reporting on Russia.

We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. But to continue our work, we need your help.

Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just $2. It's quick to set up, and every contribution makes a significant impact.

By supporting The Moscow Times, you're defending open, independent journalism in the face of repression. Thank you for standing with us.

Once
Monthly
Annual
Continue
paiment methods
Not ready to support today?
Remind me later.

Read more