Lawyers for Alexei Navalny jailed on extremism charges
Three lawyers representing Alexei Navalny have been sentenced to prison terms ranging from 3.5 to 5.5 years for extremist activities. The verdict was announced on Friday, marking the anniversary of Navalny's return to Russia and subsequent imprisonment.
The lawyers, Vadim Kobzev, Alexei Lipcer, and Igor Sergunin, were sentenced after their arrest in the autumn of 2023 on charges related to extremist activities. The verdict in their case was announced on 17 January, coinciding with the anniversary of Navalny's return to Russia and imprisonment.
Furthermore, the convicted lawyers have been barred from practising law for three years following the completion of their sentences.
"We are being judged because we conveyed Navalny's ideas to other people," remarked Vadim Kobzev during the trial. The families of the convicted assert that the authorities accused them of sharing information from Navalny with his supporters.
Julia Navalna, the widow of Alexei Navalny, has appealed for the release of the convicted lawyers. The case is widely perceived as an attempt to pressure the opposition and dissuade legal professionals from taking on political cases. Authorities have also issued arrest warrants for two additional lawyers affiliated with Navalny who managed to leave Russia.
Organisations associated with Navalny were outlawed in 2021 and labelled extremist. Navalny, a vocal critic of President Putin, was arrested in January 2021 and received sentences totalling over 30 years in prison. In February 2024, reports emerged of Navalny's death in a gulag located beyond the Arctic Circle.
The lawyers' verdict was initially scheduled for delivery a week earlier, but the court postponed it to 17 January.
"Coincidence, sure," commented Ivan Zhdanov, director of the Anti-Corruption Foundation.
