Alexei Navalny sentenced to over two years in prison despite Western pressure

Alexei Navalny was sentenced to a jail time of more than two years by a national court in Moscow on Tuesday despite constant criticism from western powers. 

The court decided to overturn a suspension of sentence granted to Navalny in 2014 and will result in a long term in prison for the Kremlin critic. 

In addition to the sentence, the court verdict is expected to trigger a series of continued protests in the country and strain ties with countries who have been denouncing his arrest. 

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The opposition leader’s Anti-Corruption Fund called FBK announced a protest at the city centre and urged his supporters to join the demonstration. 

Before the sentence was given, Navalny blamed the Russian leader of intimidating those who criticise the government and further made fun of Vladimir Putin over claims that the Novichok nerve agent used to poison him had been placed in his underwear.

“They are putting one person behind bars to scare millions,” Navalny said.

While Putin wanted to be seen as a great statesman, Navalny said, the Russian leader instead “will go down in history as a poisoner of underpants”.

Thousands of people have taken to the streets of the national capital and other Russian cities, even in the far east, in the last two weeks in support of Navalny’s release, triggering a massive police confrontation due to which several thousand people were detained all over the country.

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Western alliances have condemned the acts of the Russian authorities in unison and with many state leaders considering the imposition of sanctions against Russia. 

Dmitry Peskov, the spokesperson of the Kremlin, stated that the arrest of Navalny shall not be a reason which strains Russia’s relations with European countries. 

He said, “We hope that such nonsense as linking the prospects of Russia-EU relations with the resident of a detention centre will not happen.”