The jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has been handed a further 19 year jail term, at a trial in a remote penal colony.
Mr Navalny was found guilty of founding and funding an extremist organisation and activities. He denies the charges.
He is already serving a nine-year term for parole violations, fraud and contempt of court. The charges are widely viewed as politically motivated.
Since his jailing in 2021, Mr Navalny has been held at a remote penal colony.
A hall in the prison, Penal Colony No 6 in Melekhovo, which is 240km (150 miles) east of Moscow, was turned into a makeshift courtroom for the Kremlin’s most vocal critic. The proceedings were held behind closed doors.
Russian state prosecutors had called for a 20-year prison sentence for Mr Navalny in an even more restrictive “special regime colony”. Such prisons are normally reserved for Russia’s most dangerous criminals.
In a message posted on social media ahead of the verdict, Mr Navalny expressed his belief that he would be handed a “Stalinist” style prison term designed to frighten other potential dissenters.
Source: BBC
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