Russian dissident Alexei Navalny has been sentenced to 3.5 years of prison time for violating his parole, according to the Associated Press.
Navalny, 44, one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s most vocal critics, was jailed in Moscow after returning to his country on Jan. 17. He spent months in Germany, recovering after being poisoned with a Soviet-era nerve agent. He was immediately arrested upon his return and put in jail, having been accused of failing to meet his parole terms under a 2014 suspended sentence for embezzlement.
On Tuesday, the judge returned a verdict that will imprison him for 2.5 years. The reduction from the original sentence was due to spending a year under house arrest.
“We know who did this. We know why this is happening,” Navalny said in an apparent reference to Putin, according to the Washington Post. “Someone did not want me to take a single step on the territory of Russia, and we know why. The reason is the fear of the man in the bunker.”
He also claimed that Russian leaders would “arrest five to scare millions,” adding, “I really hope people will understand this more and more. And this will happen. They can’t arrest the entire country.”
Navalny’s poisoning and subsequent arrest upon his return to Russia sparked international condemnation and has created a rift within the country. Tens of thousands of protesters gathered throughout the country demanding Navalny’s freedom, leading to thousands of arrests, including his wife, Yulia Navalny.
“Everyone was convinced that he’s just a bureaucrat who was accidentally appointed to his position. He’s never participated in any debates. Murder is the only way he knows how to fight. He’ll go down in history as nothing but a poisoner. We all remember Alexander the Liberator [Alexander II] and Yaroslav the Wise [Yaroslav I]. Well, now we’ll have Vladimir the Underpants Poisoner,” Navalny also said while in court, specifically addressing how his attackers allegedly laced his underwear with poison, according to RFEFL.
Russians took to the streets on Tuesday night following the judge’s ruling.
People walking near downtown Moscow, which has been shut down by police: “Free the political prisoners!” pic.twitter.com/zIMEfCh7j7
— Alec Luhn (@ASLuhn) February 2, 2021
Despite Navalny’s prison sentence, Putin previously said in a December new conference: “His wife addressed me, and I gave the green light to have him treated in Germany that very second,” according to a readout from the Kremlin.
After the first round of protests last month, Putin labeled the demonstrations as unlawful and “dangerous.”
The United States government has called upon Russia to release Navalny and criticized Moscow’s handling of protesters.
“The U.S. condemns the persistent use of harsh tactics against peaceful protesters and journalists by Russian authorities for a second week straight,” tweeted Secretary of State Antony Blinken. “We renew our call for Russia to release those detained for exercising their human rights, including Aleksey Navalny.”
