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Well-known opponent of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Alexei Navalny, lost the appeal against a sentence of nine years in prison, but there was also a fierce attack against the Kremlin chief for the war in Ukraine.
Calling Vladimir Putin’s war nonsense, he said “government courts are built entirely on lies.” He addressed the court in Moscow via a video link from his cell.
In comments that were repeatedly interrupted, Navalny said he despised the court and said the verdicts against him were no different from the lies used by President Putin and state TV to justify the war.
“You will suffer a historic defeat in this war you have started. It has no purpose or meaning. “Why are we waging war?” he said.
Long seen as the most vocal critic of President Putin in Russia, Navalny was arrested the moment he returned home from Germany after being treated for an almost fatal nerve agent attack in Siberia in August 2020.
He was initially jailed for two-and-a-half years for violating parole while being treated in hospital, but in March was given nine extra years for fraud and contempt of court.
The prosecutor told the court that the decision in March was fair and justified, but Navalny’s defense lawyer argued that he had violated international law.
Since Navalny was imprisoned last year, he has been held in a prison in Pokrov, east of Moscow, but now he can move to another prison with a much stricter regime and very limited rights to prison visits.
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