The Russian court rejects the appeal of Alexei Navalny – who has been imprisoned for decades

Opposition leader and Putin critic Alexei Navalny reportedly had his appeal against the 19-year prison sentence he was handed last summer rejected on Tuesday. Reuters. He is accused of “extremism” and will spend time in a penal colony.

According to the prosecutor, Navalny “financed extremist activity,” “incited extremist activity,” and “rehabilitated Nazi ideology.”

Navalny has already been jailed for two and a half years after being sentenced to eleven and a half years in a penal colony. He therefore faces a prison sentence of more than 30 years.

The appeal was rejected in a session closed to the media, despite protests from Navalny and his lawyers.

He rejects the charges

The 47-year-old opposition politician is scheduled to be transferred to a “special regime” penal colony, the strictest level in Russia’s penal system.

Navalny denies all the charges against him, which also include charges of fraud and contempt of court, in an attempt to silence his criticism of President Vladimir Putin.

Television technician Daniil Kholodny, who worked with Navalny, also appealed the eight-year prison sentence he was handed last summer. It was also rejected on Tuesday.

“Alexei, we will see you,” Kholodny shouted after the judge made his decision, to which Navalny waved his hand in response.

“For all of us – their colleagues and friends – this is a constant pain,” Navalny’s aide Leonid Volkov previously wrote on Twitter.

“And the constant challenge: to do every day everything in our power to destroy the madman in the Kremlin.”

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