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Russian court clears way for Putin critic Alexei Navalny to be sent to prison camp

  • Navalny will spend a little over 2-1/2 years behind bars after a court rejected his appeal, while shortening the activist’s original jail term by six weeks
  • The 44-year-old was jailed earlier this month for parole violations that he said were trumped up

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Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. Photo: Reuters
Reuters
Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny lost his appeal on Saturday against what he said was a politically motivated decision to jail him for nearly three years, but said his faith in God and belief in the rightness of his cause was sustaining him.
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Navalny, President Vladimir Putin’s most prominent critic, was jailed earlier this month for parole violations that he said were trumped up. Western countries have condemned the case and are discussing possible sanctions on Russia.

A Moscow court swiftly rejected Navalny’s appeal on Saturday, while shortening his original jail term by six weeks. The original term was 3-1/2 years.

But with the amount of time he had already spent under house arrest taken into account, it amounted to around two years and eight months. His lawyer said on Saturday he would now spend a little over 2-1/2 years behind bars and that his legal team would try to challenge the decision to reject his appeal.

Navalny responded sarcastically to the ruling, which paves the way for him to be transferred from an infamous Moscow jail to a prison camp. “They’ve reduced the sentence by 1-1/2 months. Great!” he said from a courtroom glass cage.

02:05

Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny arrested and detained upon return to Russia after near-fatal poisoning

Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny arrested and detained upon return to Russia after near-fatal poisoning

Navalny’s allies reacted with anger.

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