Russian court of law has sentenced to prison three lawyers who previously defended political opposition member Alexei Navalny, who later died in prison.
Navalny died in prison in February 2023. He was sentenced to 19 years in prison for leading an “extremist” organisation. Navalny’s supporters believe he was murdered, and they blame Russian President Vladimir Putin for his death.
Lawyers Vadim Kobzev, Aleksei Liptser and Igor Sergunin were sentenced to 3.5 to 5 years in prison. They were detained in October 2023 and accused of “extremism”.
After Navalny’s death, Russian authorities strengthened their campaign against the supporters of Kremlin’s critics, his associates and family – journalists who covered court hearings were detained. Navalny’s widow Yulia Navalnaya is now on Russia’s blacklist of “terrorists and extremists”.
On the 10th of January, in his last address to the court, Kobzev said all of them are on trial for passing Navalny’s ideas to other people.
Investigators claim lawyers were passing information between the imprisoned Navalny and his associates, assisting the Kremlin’s critic in prohibited political activities while in prison.
Two more lawyers are involved in this case – Aleksandra Fedulova and Olga Mikhailova. They managed to flee Russia, and the court put them under arrest in absentia.
Russian court sentences Navalny’s lawyers to prison
