Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny and his supporters have been convicted by a Russian court of damages totaling 88 million rubles (1.2 million euros) to a Kremlin-related company. This was announced by Nawalny's spokeswoman Kira Jarmisch.
Nawalny, his anti-corruption foundation FBK and the opposition politician Ljubow Sobol, who had been excluded from the parliamentary election this year, must pay the provider of school meals for defamation in each case 29 million rubles.
Navalny is one of the most prominent critics of the head of state Vladimir Putin. The lawyer's foundation repeatedly exposes cases of corruption and the decadent lifestyle of representatives of the Russian elite. The distribution is mainly via the Internet.
Navalny wants to appeal
In February, FBK published a report criticizing the company Moskowski Schkolnik for the quality of his school meals. Appealing to a former employee of the company, the Foundation also reported that Moskovsky Schkolnik is being controlled by the entrepreneur Evgeny Prigoshin, who is close to the Kremlin.
"They've poisoned children in schools and kindergartens, the cases of diarrhea are documented, but we're supposed to pay," Nawalny said in an Instagram post. In addition to the compensation, the court also ordered that the foundation must withdraw the report. Nawalny's spokeswoman announced her appointment.
The Russian authorities have increased pressure on Nawalny and his supporters in recent months. The 43-year-old had co-organized several mass demonstrations for fair local elections in Moscow in the summer. After numerous mass demonstrations by the opposition, the Kremlin-loyal parties lost a large part of their mandates. Nawalny served a 30-day prison sentence in July and August for organizing unauthorized demonstrations.
In early October, the Russian government also classified Nawalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation as a "foreign agent." This assessment allows the Kremlin to monitor the foundation more closely.