Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny has been found guilty of bogus embezzlement and contempt of court charges for which he has been sentenced to an additional nine years of imprisonment. The outspoken opposition leader, who is already serving time in a penal colony for other trumped-up charges, appeared in court looking frail and gaunt. Judge Margarita Kotova—who was reportedly caught taking phone calls from Russian President Vladimir Putin’s administration during the trial—issued the verdict against Navalny in a makeshift court at a prison in Pokrov, where he was sent after authorities claimed he’d committed parole violations while being treated in Germany after a chemical weapon attack. His lawyers, Olga Mikhailova and Vadim Kobzev, were reportedly seen being detained by police after the sentencing hearing, though it was not immediately clear why. Navalny was first arrested in January 2021 after returning to Russia despite a Kremlin-orchestrated attempt to poison him. He condemned the trial against him on Tuesday and said “Putin’s lackeys” will “fry in hell” for the war in Ukraine. “To fight this war is everyone’s duty,” he said.
