47-year-old Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny faced a trial on Friday wherein he was handed a sentence of being jailed for 19 more years in prison after being found guilty over new charges.
The Russian court in IK-6 penal colony held the trial on six separate criminal charges which included rehabilitating Nazi ideology, creating an extremist organization, calling for extremists actions, financing extremist activity and luring minors into them.
The additional years of being jailed comes amid Navalny’s 9-year sentence for fraud and contempt of court in a penal colony east of Moscow.
Navalny has been incarcerated since 2021, serving a separate jail time after being convicted of fraud.
Alexei Navalny has said charges against him are politically motivated.
Following the announcement, in a Twitter post, Navalny said,
“19 years in a Maximum Security Penal Colony. The number of years does not matter. I perfectly understand that, like many political prisoners, I am sitting on a life sentence. Where life is measured by the term of my life or the term of life of this regime.”
“The sentencing figure is not for me. It is for you. You, not me, are being frightened and deprived of the will to resist. You are being forced to surrender your country of Russia without a fight to the gang of traitors, thieves, and scoundrels who have seized power. Putin must not achieve his goal. Do not lose the will to resist,” he added.
Meanwhile, several Western countries have condemned the court ruling, including the United States, France, and Germany.
