Alexej Navalny (44) has been sentenced to a long prison term.
The verdict against him was announced by a Moscow court on Tuesday.
Germany and the USA condemn this.
The Kremlin critic
Alexei
Navalny
is on trial in Moscow this Tuesday - the Russian penal system sentenced him to
three and a half years in
prison
(see update from February 2, 6:34 p.m.).
Navalny
briefly met his wife
Julia Navalnaya in court
(see update from February 2, 11:05 a.m.).
He also took advantage of an attack against the process,
President Putin
to ride
(see Update February 2, 15:45).
This
news ticker
is updated regularly.
Update from February 2, 10:10 p.m.:
Chancellor Angela Merkel has also sharply criticized the verdict against the Kremlin critic Alexej Navalny in Russia as "far removed from the rule of law".
Government spokesman Steffen Seibert quoted Merkel on Twitter: “Navalny must be released immediately.
The violence against peaceful demonstrators must stop. ”On Tuesday, a Moscow court converted a three-and-a-half year suspended sentence for Navalny into a prison sentence.
Update from February 2, 7:57 p.m.:
After the Kremlin critic Alexei
Navalny was
sentenced to several years in prison, several countries have demanded the immediate release of the 44-year-old.
"Navalny must be released immediately," wrote the Federal Foreign Minister Heiko Maas on Twitter.
The verdict is "a bitter blow to firmly documented freedom rights and the rule of law in Russia".
Sharp criticism also came from the USA and Great Britain.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Navalny must be released "immediately and unconditionally".
The same applies to hundreds of demonstrators who have been arrested in recent weeks.
British Foreign Minister Dominic Raab agreed.
He strongly condemned Moscow's actions and called for Navalny's release: "Today's perverse judgment, which targets a poisoning victim instead of those responsible, shows that Russia is failing to meet the most basic obligations that would be expected of a responsible member of the international community."
Trial against Alexei Navalny: Putin critic must be imprisoned for several years
Update from February 2, 6:34 p.m.:
Immediately after his return to his Russian homeland, Alexei Navalny was arrested.
In the trial against the critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, the verdict has now been finalized.
The court sentenced the 44-year-old opponent to the Kremlin to three and a half years in prison for multiple violations of probation conditions in an earlier criminal case in 2014.
However, according to Nawalny's lawyers, a previous house arrest could be deducted from the length of the prison sentence.
Even so, Navalny still has two years and eight months in prison, which he has to spend in a prison camp.
Navalny, who received the verdict quietly and without apparent emotion, had previously defended himself against the allegations.
"I was being treated in Germany," he justified in the courtroom for the alleged violation of his probation conditions.
Navalny had recovered for five months from an attack with the chemical warfare agent Novitschok in Berlin and Baden-Württemberg.
His wife Julia Navalnaya was also present at the trial.
She cried after the verdict was announced.
Trial of Alexej Navalny: Putin critic with verbal attack against the Russian president
Update from February 2, 3:45 p.m.:
The Russian Kremlin opponent
Alexej Navalny
used his appearance at the controversial court case in Moscow for a new attack on President Vladimir Putin *.
The Kremlin boss will go down in Russian history as "Vladimir, the poisoner of underwear", Navalny said on Tuesday, as various channels in the Telegram news service
reported from the court,
according to
dpa
.
Navalny recalled that he only barely survived an assassination attempt with the chemical warfare agent Novichok.
He blames Putin and agents of the domestic secret service * FSB for the attack.
They, in turn, deny being involved in the murder.
The
Kremlin critic also
rejects the allegations made by the Russian penal authorities that he violated probation conditions during his patient stay in Germany.
He had given the authorities his address in Germany, said the 44-year-old in a Moscow court where a prison sentence was being heard against him.
“What else should I have done?
Should I have sent you a video of my physiotherapy? "
Alexei Navalny tries to take the fear of his supporters at the trial in the Moscow court
Navalny also criticized the fact that Putin took up his post as president in 2000 completely by accident.
The former head of the secret service never took part in a political debate in his life.
"His only fighting instrument is killing," said
Navalny
.
The opposition leader called on the people of his country to overcome their fear despite the pressure.
He also called for the immediate release of all political prisoners in Russia.
Lawlessness and arbitrariness are the essence of the political system in Russia, the politician continued.
"That is terrible," he said in his closing remarks.
The judge appointed by the Kremlin, Natalia Pepnikova, urged Navalny not to engage in politics in the courtroom.
The land belongs to the people, replied Navalny.
You have the right to protest against grievances.
"It's not difficult to lock me up," Navalny said.
"This is mainly done here to intimidate as large a number of people as possible," he said, referring to the
procedure that has been criticized
internationally as
arbitrary
justice.
"But an entire country cannot be locked up."
Trial against Alexej Navalny: Russia sharply rejects criticism
Update from February 2, 12:57 p.m.:
The Kremlin has
again sharply rejected
the criticism of the action against the Russian oppositionist
Alexej Navalny
.
Russia will not accept "instructions" from the EU, said Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov, according to the Interfax agency.
The EU, Germany and the USA had repeatedly called for Nawalny to be released.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Sakharova criticized the presence of several diplomats at the controversial trial of Navalny in Moscow on Facebook as interference in Russia's internal affairs.
The proceedings in Moscow, overshadowed by hundreds of arrests, were meanwhile suspended for two hours - for technical reasons, it was said.
The verdict is expected on Tuesday.
Numerous journalists were also taken into custody.
The EU recently criticized the violent actions of the Russian police on several occasions.
Update from February 2nd, 11:58 am:
Alexej
Navalny
rejected the allegations against himself: "I was being treated in Germany!"
Previously, the Russian penal system
had demanded a three-and-a-half year
prison sentence against him for
allegedly
violating the probation requirements in an earlier criminal case
(see update from February 2, 10:45 a.m.)
.
Before his arrest in Russia,
Navalny
recovered in Germany for several months after being the victim of a poison attack.
Trial against Alexej Navalny: Brief moment with his wife
Update from February 2, 11:05
a.m
.:
How long does the Kremlin critic
Alexei
Navalny have to
stay in prison?
He is currently on trial in Moscow City Court
(see previous updates)
.
Also present: his wife
Julia Navalnaya
.
While Navalny is standing in a glass case in the courtroom, he apparently managed to speak briefly to his wife: “They showed you on TV in my cell and said that you are constantly disturbing public order.
Bad girl!
I am proud of you, ”he said on the Internet channel Jod.
Navalnaya was last arrested twice during the protests.
Nawalny's wife became internationally known when the 44-year-old asked in August 2020 that her husband had to go abroad for treatment.
At that time, the Kremlin critic was lying
in the hospital in the Siberian city of Omsk
after a
poison attack
.
The couple met 22 years ago while on vacation in Turkey.
Julia Navalnaja
, who studied economics, describes Alexej as a “real great love” and “best friend” at the same time.
About the moment she saw her husband in a coma for the first time, the Moscow native said some time later: “I knew that I shouldn't become weak.
I'm his wife.
If I fall over, the others will all fall one after the other too. "
Julia Navalnaya: The wife of the Kremlin critic Navalny is in the sights of Russian investigators
Julia Navalnaja's psychological strength has been admired many times since the attack.
Some even speak of the
"future First Lady of Russia"
.
But Navalnaya is more than just emotional support.
She is also an activist - especially since Alexei was arrested in mid-January right after his return to
Russia
.
She called for the mass protests last weekend and then took to the streets in Moscow.
Now she seems to be increasingly targeted by Russian investigators: On Instagram, she posted a photo of a car in front of her house from which she was allegedly shadowed.
In recent raids against her husband's environment, her private apartment was also searched.
+
Julia Navalnaya, wife of Alexei Navalny, arrives for a court hearing on February 1st.
© Alexander Zemlianichenko / dpa
Trial of Alexei Navalny: Russian penal system calls for 3.5 years in prison
Update from February 2, 10.45 a.m.:
The Russian penal system has
demanded a prison sentence of three and a half years
against the
Kremlin opponent Alexei Navalny
.
The 44-year-old had violated probation conditions in previous criminal proceedings and violated the reporting obligation to the Russian authorities a total of seven times, according to the dpa in court.
In addition, the prison system demanded a fine of 500,000 rubles (5400 euros), as Russian agencies reported from the courtroom on Tuesday.
According to a reporter from the AFP news agency, the 44-year-old Navalny was present in the courtroom at the start.
There have now been more than 120 arrests, reported the independent portal ovdinfo.org.
The trial at the Moscow City Court took place under an unprecedented
police
presence
(see update from February 2, 9:35 a.m.)
.
Alexei Navalny: Special Police are guarding the Moscow City Court
Update from February 2, 9:35 a.m.:
Before the judicial hearing of
Alexei Navalny began
, the police arrested several supporters of the detained
Kremlin critic in
front of the courthouse in Moscow.
24 people were taken into custody, said the non-governmental organization OVD-Info.
AFP news agency reporters saw large numbers of security forces cracking down on Navalny supporters.
Many were picked up at random, reported a reporter for the German press agency.
Navalny's team had called for the rally in front of the courthouse.
There should also be decided whether the Russian oppositionists longer the
prison
needs
(see initial report)
.
The Moscow city court was guarded by hundreds of the special police OMON, which specializes in anti-terrorism, reports dpa.
The area was largely cordoned off with metal bars.
The state power prepared itself against protests by Nawalny's supporters.
Among others, Navalny's wife
Julia Navalnaya
came to court,
wearing
a black face mask.
Access roads to the courthouse were also closed, and numerous prisoner transporters were waiting.
Trial against Navalny: court will decide on prison sentence on Tuesday
First report from February 2, 8.15 a.m.:
Moscow - A Moscow court will decide on Tuesday whether Kremlin critic
Alexej Navalny * has
to go to prison longer.
The Russian Prison Authority (FSIN) has applied for the conversion of an existing probation into a prison sentence because the 44-year-old
is said to have violated
probation
requirements.
This application is supported by the public prosecutor.
If he is granted, Navalny will have to
go to prison
for around
two and a half years,
according to his lawyer
.
Alexei Navalny: Will Putin lock him away for many years today?
Moscow court decides on long imprisonment
Navalny was
sentenced to three and a half years in prison in
2014 on
charges of embezzlement
, but the
sentence was
suspended.
The FSIN now wants to withdraw this probation and allow the prison sentence to apply.
Since Navalny has already served some of them under house arrest, he faces another two and a half years in prison.
The authorities had already justified the arrest of Navalny immediately after his return from Germany in mid-January with violations of probation conditions.
He was sentenced to 30 days' imprisonment in an urgent procedure, now it is about a significantly longer prison term.
The process has been criticized for being politically motivated - many experts see it as a new attempt to silence the opponent of Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin.
Navalny barely survived an assassination attempt involving the chemical warfare agent Novichok in August.
The 44-year-old blames Putin and agents of the Russian domestic secret service FSB for the attack.
They reject the allegations.
According to the doctors treating him, Alexei Navalny was
poisoned
with the
neurotoxin Novichok
.
This has already happened to several Kremlin critics.
An overview.
At the beginning of the week, Nawalny's team
published a highly acclaimed unveiling
video entitled
“A Palace for Putin”
, which is supposed to prove that the president had a “tsarist empire” built on the Black Sea with bribes.
The
Kremlin describes the allegations as a "lie"
.
(
AFP / dpa) * Merkur.de is part of the
Ippen digital network
List of rubric lists: © Uncredited / Moscow City Court / dpa
