The lawyers of the anti -corruption activist, accused in particular of having diverted millions of rubles of donations paid to his organizations against corruption, immediately announced on Tuesday that they would form an appeal against this judgment.
Le Monde with AFP
Russian justice confirmed, Tuesday, May 24, on appeal, on appeal the sentence to nine years in prison in “severe regime” of the main opponent Alexei Navalny, tried for “swindle” and “contempt of magistrate”. “The verdict of the Lefortovo court on March 22 is unchanged,” said a judge of the Moscow municipal court, adding that he entered “in force immediately”. The opponent lawyers immediately announced that they would form an appeal against this judgment.
At first instance, on March 22, the charismatic militant anti -corruption, which was already serving a sentence in so -called “normal regime” colony, had been sentenced to nine years in prison in “severe” regime, where the conditions of detention are Righter. He was accused in particular of having diverted millions of rules of donations paid to his organizations against corruption. This penalty includes that pronounced in March 2021 for “fraud”, in a case dating back to 2014 and involving the French company Yves Rocher.
“I call people not to be afraid”
Alexei Navalny appeared in videoconferencing since the colony of Pokrov, 100 kilometers from Moscow, where he served his first pain. Locked in a cage, he listened to the verdict carefully and with a gloomy air.
Called to express themselves before the closing of the debates, the opponent did not mince his words, despite several reminders to the order of the court. Believing that this trial “made no sense”, he launched:
I despise your court, your system. Of course I don’t want to be in a cell. I would prefer to see my children grow up. But I call people not to be afraid, to be afraid is a crime against our future.
Alexei Navalny was arrested in January 2021 on his return from Berlin, where he had spent several months recovering after poisoning, of which he holds the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, responsible. The latter categorically denies and no investigation has been opened.
This arrest marked the starting point for the acceleration of a vast repression of all anti-Kremlin and independent media movements in Russia. It has been increased again since February 24 and Vladimir Putin’s decision to launch a military offensive against Ukraine.