CNN
—
Three lawyers for Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, who died in an Arctic prison last year, have been found guilty by a Russian court of belonging to an extremist group and sentenced to years in prison.
Igor Sergunin, Alexei Liptzel, and Vadim Kobzev were tried behind closed doors in Petushki, east of Moscow, and sentenced to three and a half years in prison, five years in prison, and five and a half years in prison, respectively.
According to Russia’s independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta, prosecutors said lawyers “used their position” to pass letters written by Mr. Navalny in prison to his associates, suggesting that Mr. Navalny remains the head of an “extremist organization.” He accused them of making this possible.
Navalny died suddenly in February last year while serving a 19-year sentence on extremism charges he denied. Although Russian prison authorities said Mr. Navalny “felt unwell after a walk” and the Kremlin denied any involvement in his death, many Western countries and Mr. Navalny’s allies blame Russia’s Vladimir Putin. It’s imposed on the president.
Human rights groups say the sentences against Mr. Navalny’s associates show that the Kremlin continues to repress those who oppose President Vladimir Putin’s rule and the war in Ukraine.
Amnesty International said in a statement: “By targeting lawyers who are simply doing their jobs, Russian authorities are dismantling what remains of legal defense rights and abusing a criminal justice system in name only.” Ta.
The group called the sentence a “shameful attempt to silence those who dared to defend Navalny” and called for the lawyers’ unconditional release.
The United States condemned the lawyers’ ruling, saying they were arrested “simply carrying out their duties.” “This is yet another example of the Kremlin’s persecution of defense attorneys in an effort to violate human rights, subvert the rule of law, and suppress dissent,” the State Department said in a statement.
The lawyers were first arrested in October 2023 on suspicion of participating in an “extremist organization,” which Amnesty International said was an “arbitrary designation” applied by the Kremlin to Navalny’s anti-corruption foundation. said.
They join a string of Russians linked to Mr. Navalny that prosecutors have pursued since the opposition leader’s death. Last April, two Russian journalists, Konstantin Gabov and Sergei Karelin, created content for Navalny’s YouTube channel, which published videos investigating Kremlin corruption that garnered millions of views. accused of suspicion.
Mr Navalny’s widow, Yulia Navalnaya, said on Friday that his lawyers were “political prisoners” who “should be released immediately”.
Navalny, Putin’s most formidable opponent, was jailed upon his return to Russia in 2021. He had arrived from Germany and was being treated for poisoning with the Soviet-era nerve agent Novichok. A joint investigation by CNN and the Bellingcat organization suggested that the Russian Security Service (FSB) was involved in Navalny’s poisoning.
Navalny died in March last year, just over a month before Putin was re-elected as president.