Russia has sentenced three lawyers who defended opposition leader Alexei Navalny to several years in prison for bringing messages from him to the outside world. The case comes amid a crackdown on dissent during the Ukraine offensive, alarming human rights groups.
Vadim Kobzev, Alexei Liptser, and Igor Sergunin were found guilty of participating in an “extremist organisation” by a court in Petushki. Kobzev was sentenced to five and a half years, while Liptser received five years, and Sergunin three and a half years.
The sentences drew outrage from the West, with the US, France, Germany, and Britain criticizing the ruling. The United States called it an example of persecution of defense lawyers by the Kremlin, while France described it as intimidation against the legal profession.
Navalny, Putin’s main political opponent, communicated with the world through his lawyers, which they then published on social media. His exiled widow Yulia Navalnaya said the lawyers were “political prisoners and should be freed immediately”.
The trial was held in a closed-door session near the Pokrov prison where Navalny was held before being moved to a remote Arctic colony. The court claimed the lawyers used their status to ensure regular transfer of information between Navalny and others outside Russia, allowing him to plan crimes with an extremist character.
Navalny had denounced the Kremlin’s Ukraine offensive as “criminal” and told supporters not to give up in his messages. His death was unexplained, and he had been denied removal from a list of terrorists despite his death.
Human rights groups fear Moscow will ramp up trials against legal representatives alongside jailing their clients. The OVD rights group said the sentences show Moscow’s intent on making defending political prisoners outright dangerous, risking destruction of what little is left of the rule of law.
Source: https://www.kyivpost.com/post/45659