- Alexei Navalny, a vocal critic of Russian leader Vladimir Putin, has been found guilty of fraud and contempt of court.
- Navalny now faces up to 13 years in a maximum-security prison camp.
- Despite being jailed, Navaly has continued to urge his countrymen to protest against Russia and Putin.
Alexei Navalny, the jailed Russian opposition leader and vocal critic of Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, has been found guilty on charges of fraud and contempt of court.
Reuters reported that the verdict was handed down on Tuesday. Prosecutors now want Navalny — who is currently in a prison camp east of Moscow — to be moved to a maximum-security facility to serve a 13-year sentence.
According to the Associated Press, Navalny had been accused of embezzling money raised by his foundation and contempt of court for allegedly insulting a judge during a previous trial.
Navalny and his allies, however, have claimed that the charges against him were inflated by the Kremlin in an attempt to crush Russia’s political opposition.
Despite being jailed, the Russian opposition figure has continued to call on Russians to protest against Putin’s rule.
This month, he urged Russians not to be a “nation of frightened silent people” and to come out in force to protest against the war in Ukraine. He has also urged global protests after thousands of people were detained in Russia for participating in anti-war demonstrations.
Navalny is known for having gone on a prolonged hunger strike while detained in a Russian prison, where he was serving a two-and-a-half-year sentence for skipping parole meetings related to a separate case. He ended his hunger strike after 23 days following warnings from doctors that he was close to death.
In August, it was reported that Navalny had been forced to watch Russian state TV and propaganda films for over eight hours a day while in detention.
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