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Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny stands in a class cage during a hearing in the Moscow City Court in Moscow, Russia, February 2, 2021. (Moscow City Court via AP)
MOSCOW (AP) A Moscow court on Tuesday ordered Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny to prison for more than 2 1/2 years on charges that he violated the terms of his probation while recuperating in Germany from nerve-agent poisoning, a ruling certain to ignite more protests across the country.
Just before the ruling, Navalny, who is the most prominent critic of President Vladimir Putin, had denounced the proceedings as a vain attempt by the Kremlin to scare millions of Russians into submission. His team called on Russians to rally immediately in central Moscow in protest.
Russian Court Orders Kremlin Critic Navalny to 2.5 Years in Prison
MOSCOW A Moscow court on Tuesday ordered Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny to more than 2 1/2 years in prison on charges that he violated the terms of his probation while he was recuperating in Germany from nerve-agent poisoning.
Navalny, who is the most prominent critic of President Vladimir Putin, had earlier denounced the proceedings as a vain attempt by the Kremlin to scare millions of Russians into submission.
The prison sentence stems from a 2014 embezzlement conviction that he has rejected as fabricated.
The 44-year-old Navalny was arrested Jan. 17 upon returning from his five-month convalescence in Germany from the attack, which he has blamed on the Kremlin. Russian authorities deny any involvement. Despite tests by several European labs, Russian authorities said they have no proof he was poisoned.
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Russia s decision to transfer detainees to Medvedchuk a blow to Normandy, Minsk formats â Ukrainian Foreign Ministry
21.01.2021 09:56
Ukrinform
Russia s decision to transfer Ukrainians held in certain areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions to a private individual, Viktor Medvedchuk, rather than to Ukraine violates established mechanisms for resolving such issues and is a blow to the Normandy format and to the work of the Trilateral Contact Group in Minsk, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has said in a statement. The decision by the Russian Federation to transfer a group of Ukrainian citizens, who were held for a long time in the temporarily occupied territory in Donetsk and Luhansk region, to a private individual, Viktor Medvedchuk, rather than to Ukraine grossly and openly violates established mechanisms for resolving such humanitarian issues, the statement reads.