A Russian court convicted Putin critic Alexei Navalny of fraud and contempt of court and sentenced him to nine more years in prison, putting his life in danger. Via Washington Post:
Navalny continues to speak out by sending messages via his legal team to be posted on his social media accounts that have amassed millions of followers. He also used the opportunity to say a final statement in court to criticize Putin, denounce the war in Ukraine and urge Russians to protest it.
“The consequence of this war will be a breakdown, the collapse of our country,” Navalny said in a March 16 hearing, which was broadcast to journalists via patchy video link. “It sounds a little wild. But the phrase ‘Russo-Ukrainian War’ also sounds pretty wild.”
“You can’t lock up everyone. Go ahead, ask for 113 years [in prison] and give it to me — you won’t scare me or anybody else like me,” he added.
“Russia’s big, there are a lot of people here, and not everybody’s cowardly enough to betray their future and their children’s futures like you are,” he said, referring to the judge Margarita Kotova and the prosecution. A few days before the Tuesday hearing, Putin promoted Kotova by signing a presidential decree.
Read this Twitter thread for the details of the insane charges against him:
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1505915866587803655.html
I don't have words to express my admiration for this man, who nearly died a gruesome death by poison for speaking up and exposing the corruption of the Putin regime. His foundation used social media to chip away at the corruption of Putin and his oligarchs.
