Alexei Navalny: Russian jail term is condemned
BBC News online -- 18 July 2013
Navalny's supporters have vowed to continue the struggle
The conviction and jailing of Russian protest leader Alexei Navalny has led to widespread criticism.
Navalny was imprisoned for five years for embezzlement from a
timber firm. He had denied the charges, saying the trial was
politically motivated.The EU said the verdict posed "serious questions" about Russian law, while the US said it was "deeply disappointed".
In Moscow, about 5,000 protesters in the city centre were met with a large police presence.
Earlier, witnesses told independent Dozhd TV that police had cleared the central Manezh Square of Navalny supporters, and that some people appeared to have been detained. The adjacent Red Square and Alexandrovsky Gardens were closed, the channel said.
In Kirov, where the trial was held, at least two Navalny supporters were arrested following scuffles with the police after the verdict and sentence were announced.
The 37-year-old had been a leading campaigner against President Vladimir Putin's United Russia party, and regularly blogged about corruption allegations.
Before he was handcuffed and led away, Navalny urged his supporters to continue his anti-corruption struggle, tweeting: "Don't sit around doing nothing."
Navalny had recently registered his candidacy for the next mayor of Moscow, but his campaign team said that after the verdict he was withdrawing from the race, and called on his supporters to boycott the vote.
Analysis
Minutes after Judge Blinov started reading from the substantial sheaf of papers, it became evident the two defendants, Alexei Navalny and Pyotr Ofitserov, were going to be found guilty.
Seasoned observers of this trial were just about able to pick up the judge's words. Others were bewildered by the hum-like reading.
Entering the courtroom just before the verdict reading started, both defendants were far from gloomy. "Why sad faces?" quipped Navalny, walking past dozens of journalists and a row of cameras.
Navalny has long acquired the skill of tweeting and blogging while interminable financial documents were read by prosecution, defence and, now, judge.
Publishing his fiery comments on politics, corruption and the need to unite in opposition to Vladimir Putin's regime - that's one of the many things he won't be able to do from behind bars, waiting for the sentence to be appealed against.
The BBC's Moscow correspondent Daniel
Sandford says that when the sentence was handed down, there were tears
from Navalny's supporters and an explosion of anger on the social
networking sites that he has used so effectively.
Jailed former oil executive and Putin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky said the conviction was "predictable and unavoidable", according to the independent Ekho Moskvy website.
"There is nothing unusual for the government's opponents to be convicted of crimes in Russia," he added.
The last Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, said using courts to punish political opponents was "unacceptable".
In a statement posted on his charity's website, he said: "Everything I know about this case... unfortunately confirms we do not have independent courts."
The US ambassador to Moscow, Michael McFaul, said: "We are deeply disappointed in the conviction of Navalny and the apparent political motivations in this trial."
A spokesman for the EU's top foreign policy official, Catherine Ashton, said the embezzlement charges were unsubstantiated, and that Navalny's jailing posed "serious questions as to the state of the rule of law in Russia".
A spokesman for German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the trial had "raised doubts about whether criminal justice was the main motive".
"Five years in prison appears disproportionate, given the alleged crime," Steffen Seibert added.
Russian rights group Memorial said the country "now has one more political prisoner", while Amnesty International's Europe and Central Asia director, John Dalhuisen, said in a statement: "This was a parody of a prosecution and a parody of a trial."
The Kremlin denies that Mr Putin uses the courts for political ends, and the judge rejected Navalny's claim of political motivation.
Pro-government analyst Sergei Markov said many Navalny supporters "realise deep in their souls that the court has proven in a normal way that Navalny was a thief".
Navalny arrived at the courtroom in Kirov to hear the verdict after a 12-hour overnight train journey from Moscow.
Our correspondent said Navalny smiled in a resigned manner when the almost guilty verdict came.
Alexei Navalny (centre) took a 12-hour train journey to Kirov for the verdict.
His wife, Yulia Navalnaya, said her husband knew he would get a custodial sentence and was mentally prepared to go to prison.
The prosecution had asked for a six-year jail sentence, but judge Sergei Blinov decided on five years, and said there were no extenuating circumstances that would warrant keeping Navalny out of prison.
Navalny's co-accused, Pyotr Ofitserov, was also found guilty, and given a four-year jail sentence.
Alexei Navalny's rise to prominence
- 2008: Started blogging about allegations of corruption at some of Russia's big state-controlled firms
- Nov 2011: Ahead of parliamentary poll, he criticised President Putin's United Russia, famously dubbing it the "party of crooks and thieves"
- Dec 2011: After the poll, he inspired mass protests against the Kremlin, and was arrested and imprisoned for 15 days
- Oct 2012: Won most votes in a poll to choose opposition leadership
- April 2013: Went on trial
- July 2013: Declared himself a candidate for Moscow mayoral election
- July 2013: Found guilty of theft and embezzlement
State television has only shown
limited interest in the process despite Navalny's prominence, but online
the trial has been followed extensively.
Judge Blinov said he found the testimony of the main prosecution witness, Vyacheslav Opalev, to be "trustworthy and consistent''.
Navalny insists that Mr Opalev spoke against him out of revenge, because Navalny had recommended he be fired and his company investigated for corruption.
Navalny is now one of the key figures of the opposition - a thorn in the side of the political establishment, campaigning against the endemic corruption, our correspondent says.
He has also coined a phrase to describe the ruling party United Russia that has stuck in everyone's minds - "the party of crooks and thieves".
Labels: Controversy, Corruption, Human Relations, Hypocrisy, Justice, Russia
posted by Pieface @ Thursday, July 18, 2013
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