Navalny's legal team sentenced: An echo of opposition crackdown
Three lawyers of Alexei Navalny were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 3 to 5 years for extremist activities. The verdict was announced on Friday, the anniversary of Navalny's return to Russia and his imprisonment.
The three lawyers, Vadim Kobzev, Alexei Lipcer, and Igor Sergunin, who represented the late leader of the Russian opposition Alexei Navalny, received their sentences ranging from 3 to 5 years. They were arrested in the fall of 2023 on charges of extremist activity. The verdict in their case was announced on January 17, the anniversary of Navalny's return to Russia and his imprisonment.
The convicted lawyers were also banned from practicing law for three years after serving their sentences.
“We are being judged because we conveyed Navalny's ideas to other people,” said Vadim Kobzev during the trial. Relatives of the convicted say that the authorities accused them of providing Navalny's supporters with information obtained from him.
Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of Alexei Navalny, called for the release of the convicted lawyers. The case is seen as an element of pressure on the opposition and a discouragement to defenders from handling political cases. The authorities have also issued arrest warrants for two other Navalny lawyers who managed to leave Russia.
Organizations related to Navalny were outlawed in 2021 and declared extremist. Navalny, a known opponent of Putin, was arrested in January 2021 and sentenced to over 30 years in prison. In February 2024, it was reported that he had died in a labour camp beyond the Arctic Circle.
The verdict regarding the lawyers was supposed to be issued a week earlier, but the court changed the date to January 17.
“Coincidence, sure,” commented Ivan Zhdanov, director of the Anti-Corruption Foundation.
