The case, which comes amid a widespread crackdown on dissent through the Ukraine offensive, has alarmed rights teams that concern Moscow will ramp up trials towards authorized representatives along with jailing their shoppers.
The Kremlin has sought to punish Navalny’s associates even after his unexplained dying in an Arctic jail colony final February.
Vadim Kobzev, Alexei Liptser and Igor Sergunin had been discovered responsible of taking part in an “extremist organisation” by a court docket within the city of Petushki.
Kobzev, probably the most high-profile member of Navalny’s authorized staff, was sentenced to 5 and a half years, whereas Liptser was handed 5 years and Sergunin three and a half years.
The sentences drew outrage within the West.
The trio had been nearly the one folks visiting Navalny in jail whereas he served his 19-year sentence.
Navalny, Putin’s principal political opponent, communicated with the world by transmitting messages via his attorneys, which his staff then revealed on social media.
Passing letters and messages via attorneys is a standard follow in Russian prisons.
Navalny’s exiled widow Yulia Navalnaya mentioned the attorneys had been “political prisoners and ought to be freed instantly”.
