Thirteen years in prison for Russian opposition leader Navalny | Abroad

Navalny is currently serving a 2.5-year prison sentence in a punishment camp east of Moscow. He had been sentenced a year earlier for violating a previous conviction. He was convicted of embezzlement in 2014. Navalny pleaded guilty and spoke of a political trial.

Navalny could not meet the conditions due to his stay in Germany. He was there in the hospital after a poisoning he blamed on the Kremlin. The opposition leader fell seriously ill during a trip in Russia. He was first treated in Russia, but later transferred to Berlin.

The official Russian news agency TASS reported that the leader of the Russian opposition, Alexei Navalny, was sentenced to 13 years in prison. The Kremlin critic was charged with fraud and contempt of court.

Eclipse of millions

The arrested opposition leader is said to have embezzled millions of euros from donations to his anti-corruption foundation. The foundation, which exposed corruption among the Russian elite, was dissolved last year before Russian authorities classified it as extremist and was thus banned.

Russian prosecutors are demanding Navalny to pay a fine of 1.2 million rubles (about 9,700 euros) in addition to a prison sentence, and are demanding a two-year probationary period after the prison sentence. According to the state news agency RIA Novosti, the court was also asked to transfer Navalny to a maximum security prison.