Russian state prosecutors have called for a 20-year prison sentence for Navalny in an even more restrictive “special regime colony”. Such prisons are normally reserved for Russia’s most dangerous criminals.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Navalny, the Kremlin’s most vocal critic, is already serving a nine-year term there for parole violations, fraud and contempt of court: charges widely seen as politically motivated.
In a message posted on social media ahead of the verdict, which is due on Friday, Navalny expressed his belief that he would be handed “a big [prison] term”.
Over the years Vladimir Putin’s Kremlin has been busy removing all potential rivals to the president, clearing the Russian political landscape of likely challengers.
In recent years Navalny has been the only Russian opposition leader capable of organising anti-Putin protests on a national scale.
After he received urgent medical care in Germany, his decision to return to Russia in 2021 will have been viewed by those in power here as a direct challenge to the Kremlin.
In his more recent role of nationalist blogger, he had become increasingly critical of the Russian authorities’ handling of the war - and of President Putin himself.
I’m a bot and I’m open source!
Anyone else utterly shocked this dude is still alive?
Yeah, honestly not sure why he wasn’t found “suicided” having jumped from his apartment rooftop after shooting himself in the back of the head.
Maybe they’re trying to turn him into an example for others to not have hope to win against Putin?
Yeah, I saw his name in the headline and thought for sure it was because he’d finally died. Putin is probably scared that killing him at this point will turn him into a martyr and galvanize his base, especially with the disastrous war in Ukraine already help shift public opinion.
