Alexei Navalny: Russian opposition leader handed further 19 year jail term
The jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has been handed a further 19 year jail term, at a trial in a remote penal colony, BBC reports.
Mr Navalny was found guilty of founding and funding an extremist organisation and activities. He denies the charges. He is already serving a nine-year term for parole violations, fraud and contempt of court. The charges are widely viewed as politically motivated.
Since his jailing in 2021, Mr Navalny has been held at a remote penal colony.
A hall in the prison, Penal Colony No 6 in Melekhovo, which is 240km (150 miles) east of Moscow, was turned into a makeshift courtroom for the Kremlin's most vocal critic. The proceedings were held behind closed doors.
Mr Navalny will serve his time in an even more restrictive "special regime colony", which Russian state prosecutors had been calling for.
There, he is likely to face greater isolation in this prison, where it will be harder to talk to other inmates and communicate with the outside world.
He could also receive fewer visitors than he is used to, including his family and defence team, and may face longer periods of solitary confinement.
