3 lawyers for the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny are jailed by a Russian court
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Three lawyers who once represented the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny were jailed Friday in Russia as part of the Kremlin’s crackdown on dissent that has reached levels unseen since Soviet times. Vadim Kobzev, Igor Sergunin and Alexei Liptser were jailed from 3 1/2 to five years by a court in the town of Petushki, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) east of Moscow. They were arrested in October 2023 on charges of involvement with extremist groups, as Navalny’s networks were deemed by authorities.
The case was widely seen as a way to increase pressure on the opposition to discourage defense lawyers from taking political cases. At the time, Navalny was serving a 19-year prison term on several criminal convictions, including extremism. He died in a Russian prison camp in February 2023.
The independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta reported that Kobzev said in his final statement in court on Jan. 10 that “we are being tried for transmitting Navalny's thoughts to other people.”. Navalny's networks were deemed extremist following a 2021 ruling that outlawed his organizations — the Foundation for Fighting Corruption and a network of regional offices — as extremist groups.
That ruling, which exposed anyone involved with the organizations to prosecution, was condemned by Kremlin critics as politically motivated and designed to stifle Navalny’s activities. According to Navalny’s allies, authorities accused the lawyers of using their position to pass information from him to his team.
