Navalny supporters, media gather outside prison ahead of extremism case verdict

Record ID: 1736491

  • Title: Navalny supporters, media gather outside prison ahead of extremism case verdict
  • Date: 4th August 2023
  • Summary: MELEKHOVO, VLADIMIR REGION, RUSSIA (AUGUST 4, 2023) (REUTERS) ENTRANCE TO PRISON COLONY, BANNER READING (in Russian) "ATTENTION! RESTRICTED AREA!" PRISON COLONY WALL JOURNALISTS AT THE ENTRANCE TO PRISON COLONY (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) SUPPORTER OF ALEXEI NAVALNY, ALEXANDER GORELOV, SAYING: "I realise there will be a prison sentence. It will be harsh. In any case, it will be as harsh as possible." ENTRANCE TO PRISON COLONY (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) SUPPORTER OF ALEXEI NAVALNY, ALEXANDER GORELOV, SAYING: "You might say he's a model (politician). Such a courageous approach to his political stance - to his political stance and attitude towards the country, to the state of politics in society." ROAD IN MELEKHOVO ROAD SIGN READING (in Russian) "MELEKHOVO" TRAFFIC MOVING ON THE ROAD IN MELEKHOVO
  • Embargoed: 18th August 2023 13:39
  • Keywords: Navalny Opposition Prison Putin Russia
  • Location: MELEKHOVO, VLADIMIR REGION, RUSSIA
  • City: MELEKHOVO, VLADIMIR REGION, RUSSIA
  • Country: Russia
  • Topics: Crime/Law/Justice,Europe,Judicial Process/Court Cases/Court Decisions
  • Reuters ID: LVA001230004082023RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny expects a court to extend his prison sentence by nearly two decades on Friday (August 4), in a criminal case which he and his supporters say was trumped up to keep him behind bars and out of politics for even longer.
    Navalny, 47, President Vladimir Putin's fiercest domestic critic, is already serving sentences totalling 11.5 years on fraud and other charges that he says are also bogus. His political movement has been outlawed and declared "extremist".
    State prosecutors have asked the court to hand him another 20 years in a penal colony on six separate criminal charges, including inciting and financing extremist activity and creating an extremist organisation.
    "I realise there will be a sentence... it will be as severe as possible," Navalny supporter Alexander Gorelov told Reuters outside the penal colony after travelling there from Nizhny Novgorod region.
    In a message posted on social media on Thursday, Navalny said the outcome could be slightly less, around 18 years, but it didn't really matter because he was also threatened with terrorism charges that could bring another decade.
    "It's going to be a long sentence. What is called 'Stalinist'," said Navalny, who is able to post on social media via his supporters and lawyers.
    He said the purpose would be to frighten Russians, but urged them not to let that happen and to think hard about how best to resist what he called the "villains and thieves in the Kremlin".
    The charges relate to his role in his now-defunct movement inside Russia, which the authorities said had been trying to foment a revolution by seeking to destabilise the socio-political situation.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2023. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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