He feared a “Stalinist punishment”. Alexei Navalny, the Russian nationalist, first opponent of Vladimir Putin, was sentenced on Friday August 4 to an additional 19 years in prison for “extremism”. He will have to serve his sentence in a prison center known for its very difficult living conditions. “Alexei Navalny has been sentenced to 19 years of special regime”, meaning imprisonment in one of the harshest establishments in the Russian prison system, spokesperson Kira Iarmych said on X (ex-Twitter).
In the evening, the 47-year-old Russian called on his compatriots to “continue to resist” Kremlin policy. “You are being forced to leave your Russia without a fight against the band of traitors, thieves and scoundrels who have taken over. (Vladimir) Putin must not achieve his goal. Don’t lose the will to resist,” Mr. Navalny wrote according to a message posted on his Facebook page by his team.
Soon after the announcement of the verdict, the European Union, through Charles Michel, deemed Navalny’s “arbitrary” condemnation “unacceptable”. For her part, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock spoke of a “flagrant injustice”. “Putin fears nothing more than those who oppose war, corruption and defend democracy, even from a prison cell. It will not silence critical voices,” the minister added in a post on X.
Other reactions: The UN has called for the “immediate release” of the Russian opponent. His conviction “raises new concerns about judicial harassment and the instrumentalization of the judicial system for political purposes in Russia”, denounced the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, in a press release. States “have an obligation to respect […] all rights to a fair trial and due process for all individuals deprived of their liberty,” Mr. Türk recalled. “I call on the Russian authorities to uphold these obligations by immediately ceasing violations of Mr. Navalny’s human rights and releasing him,” he added.
As for France, it condemned the decision “with the greatest vigor”, seeing it as “judicial harassment”. “We once again call on the Russian authorities to release Mr. Navalny immediately and unconditionally, as well as all political prisoners,” responded a spokeswoman for the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
