Alexei Navalny, Russia’s most prominent opponent to President Vladimir Putin who was sentenced to nearly a decade in prison for challenging Putin in the last election after surviving an assassination attempt by the Kremlin, was sentenced to an additional 19 years of incarceration and moved to a harsher penal colony, Politico reports.
Navalny was tried in what he described as a “sham trial” for supporting extremists movements in Russia–essentially, anything that challenges Putin’s absolute power–and given a “Stalinist” sentence for voicing opposition to Putin and continuing to hail demonstrations against the Kremlin. Per the prosecution’s instructions, Navalny will be transferred to a prison colony, where he will be further isolated from leaders of his now-banned political party. Human rights advocates fear Navalny may face violence at the hands of prison gangs loyal to Putin.
Already frail after surviving being poisoned by polonium in 2020 and seeking treatment in Germany, Navalny continued his political advocacy when he returned to Russia in January 2021 and was promptly jailed for just voicing his opinions against the Putin regime.