Russia has decided that Vladimir Putin’s main rival, Alexei Navalny should remain behind bars. International pressure and the request of the European Court of Human Rights that the politician be set free with immediate effect apparently fell on deaf ears as the Putin led administration failed to be convinced to free the Russian firebrand opposition politician.
The appeals court confirmed the ruling with which at the beginning of the month the politician was revoked the conditional suspension of a sentence that dates back to six years ago and ended up in jail for an old and controversial sentence.
The judge granted Navalny only a small reprieve on the period to be spent in prison, reduced from two years and 8 months to two years and 6 months.
“They shortened the sentence by a month and a half. Well! Alexei Navalny Commented with sarcasm. While in court, he also declared that he had no regrets for having returned to Russia despite the fact that he was immediately hit by a shower of judicial troubles that many believe to be of political origin.
The opponent explained his position by quoting the Bible and Harry Potter. He said that The Bible says: ”Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice for they will be satisfied.’ He explained that he doesn’t regret being back to Russia.
Navalny was arrested as soon as he returned to Russia from Germany, where he had sought treatment after an alleged poisoning for which he insists that the Kremlin had a hand in. Then the opponent compared Putin to Lord Voldemort, Harry Potter’s main antagonist, saying he will resist his attempts to make him feel alone and isolated.
Navalny is widely hated by the Putin administration owing to his sustained troubling of the Kremlin with anti-corruption video investigations and anti-government protests. Now he is in prison on charges of violating the terms of bail by not appearing before the supervisory judge in Moscow in recent months. At that time the dissident was being treated in Berlin, but this did not prevent the Russian authorities from throwing him in jail, exhuming an old sentence of 2014 which was rejected by Strasbourg. “The whole world knows where I was,” Navalny told the judge in vain.
The opponent also has other problems with justice and he was forced to remain in the same courtroom for another trial. Again, the conviction arrived on time and Navalny was fined approximately 10,300 francs for having “defamed” an elderly veteran of the Second World War. It all started with a tweet in which the dissident lashed out at a pro-Kremlin video. The video promoted the reform that lifted Putin’s limit of two consecutive presidential terms, and Navalny called everyone who participated in it “traitors”. But there was also a 94-year-old veteran among them.
Offending a person who fought against Nazi invaders is considered unacceptable in Russia and according to Navalny the trial is a move by the authorities to put him in a bad light even if his words were not addressed directly to the veteran.
What is most worrying, however, is obviously the imprisonment of Navalny, which many think was wanted by Putin to silence the main driver of anti-government protests and which could cost Russia new sanctions. EU foreign ministers will discuss it on Monday. Meanwhile, the Kremlin continues to deny that it is involved in the opponent’s judicial troubles something that many doubt.
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