"Nineteen years in a special regime colony. The figure doesn't mean anything. I fully understand that, like many political prisoners my sentence is for life. Life is measured either by my lifespan or that of the regime."
Alexei Navalny: Russian opposition leader's jail term extended to 19 years
Image source, EPA
Image caption,
Mr Navalny appears on a screen via a video link from his penal colony during court hearings in Moscow, 22 June 2023
By Steve Rosenberg, Russia editor & Ece Goksedef
BBC News, in Melekhovo & London
Imprisoned
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has told supporters not to
lose the will to resist, after his jail term was extended to 19 years.
Mr Navalny was found guilty of founding and funding an extremist organisation. He denies the charges.
He
was already serving a nine-year term for parole violations, fraud and
contempt of court. The charges are widely viewed as politically
motivated.
The trial was held in a remote penal colony, where he has been since 2021.
The
Kremlin's most vocal critic will serve his time in a "special regime
colony", which Russian state prosecutors had been calling for.
Even
more restrictive than a high security colony, such prisons are normally
reserved for dangerous criminals, re-offenders and those with life
imprisonment.
There he is likely to face greater isolation, with further restrictions on communications with the outside world.
He
could also receive fewer visitors than he is used to, including his
family and defence team, and may face longer periods of solitary
confinement.
After
the verdict, in a message to supporters posted for him on X (formerly
known as Twitter) Mr Navalny remained defiant. "You, not me, are being
frightened and deprived of the will to resist. Putin must not achieve
his goal. Do not lose the will to resist," he wrote.
For this court case the phrase "behind closed doors" felt like an understatement.
Alexei
Navalny was tried in the high security prison in which he's currently
incarcerated; the proceedings were closed to the press and the public.
But
for the verdict the BBC was allowed into Penal Colony Number 6 in the
town of Melekhovo, 150 miles east of Moscow, where a hall was turned
into a makeshift courtroom.
Along
with other journalists we crammed into a small room dubbed the "press
centre" to watch events on a video screen. We weren't allowed into the
makeshift courtroom itself (a prison hall) where the verdict would be
announced.
As
he entered the courtroom and sat down at a table, Alexei Navalny looked
relaxed. For him there was no drama about this situation: in a message
posted for him yesterday on social media Russia's most prominent
opposition figure had made it clear he'd been fully expecting a
"Stalinist" sentence.
There was a picture on the video screen. But the audio feed from the courtroom was of poor quality and intermittent.
When
the judge pronounced Mr Navalny guilty and passed sentence, it wasn't
immediately clear to the journalists watching and listening how long the
new prison sentence was.
Later, Mr Navalny himself confirmed the figure, in the social media message posted for him.
"Nineteen
years in a special regime colony. The figure doesn't mean anything. I
fully understand that, like many political prisoners my sentence is for
life. Life is measured either by my lifespan or that of the regime."
The
new sentence "raises serious concerns about judicial harassment and
instrumentalisation of the court system for political purposes in
Russia," UN human rights chief Volker Turk said in a statement.
"Putin
is trying to frighten as many Alexei supporters as he can", Mr
Navalny's press secretary Kira Yarmysh said of his sentencing.
"We have to put all our efforts in trying to get rid of Putin, and this will mean that Alexei will be free," she added.
For
more than a decade, Mr Navalny sought to expose corruption at the heart
of Russian power. His video investigations have received tens of
millions of views online.
A
charismatic campaigner, he seemed to be the only Russian opposition
leader capable of mobilising people in large numbers across Russia to
take part in anti-government protests.
But in 2020, he was poisoned in Siberia by what Western laboratories later confirmed to be a nerve agent.
After
recovering from the attack, Mr Navalny returned to Russia in 2021
despite warnings that he could face arrest. He was immediately arrested
upon arrival at an airport in Moscow.
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