Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny jailed, declares Putin 'the Underwear Poisoner'

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Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny jailed, declares Putin 'the Underwear Poisoner'

By Andrew Osborn and Maria Tsvetkova

 

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, accused of flouting the terms of a suspended sentence for embezzlement, attends a court hearing in Moscow, Russia February 2, 2021. Press service of Moscow City Court/Handout via REUTERS

 

MOSCOW (Reuters) - A Russian court jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny on Tuesday, ignoring the West in a ruling the opposition politician blamed on President Vladimir Putin's personal hatred and fear of him.

 

The Moscow court handed Navalny a three-and-a-half-year sentence, but his lawyer said the anti-corruption blogger would actually serve two years and eight months in jail because of time already spent under house arrest.

 

His lawyers said they would appeal.

 

The decision, which followed nationwide protests calling for Navalny's release, will further strain relations with the West, which is considering imposing sanctions on Russia over its handling of the case.

 

The United States, Britain, Germany and the EU urged Moscow to immediately free Navalny, with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken saying Washington would coordinate closely with allies to hold Russia accountable.

 

Russia is already under numerous Western sanctions however, and analysts say the West's options for more pressure are limited. A Navalny ally had urged the West before the hearing to hit Putin's inner circle with personal sanctions.

 

Russian police detained over 200 people on Tuesday near a court in Moscow, which had convened to consider jailing Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny for up to three and a half years, the OVD-Info protest monitoring group said.

 

Russia has suggested that Navalny is a CIA asset, a charge he rejects, and has told the West to stay out of its domestic affairs.

 

Navalny, one of Putin's most prominent critics, was arrested on Jan. 17 for alleged parole violations after returning from Germany where he had been recovering from being poisoned with a military-grade nerve agent.

 

Navalny said Russian state security agents had put the poison in his underpants, something the Kremlin denied. He used Tuesday's hearing to try to frame Putin's place in history.

 

"(Putin's) only method is killing people. However much he pretends to be a great geo-politician, he'll go down in history as a poisoner. There was Alexander the Liberator, Yaroslav the Wise, and Putin the Underwear Poisoner," said Navalny.

 

His supporters, on hearing the ruling, encouraged people to gather in central Moscow though riot police had already taken up position. The Moscow metro shut down three central stations.

 

Reuters reporters saw hundreds of protesters and the police detain some of them. Some of them chanted, "Putin is a thief!" and "Putin is a poisoner!"

 

Outside the court earlier on Tuesday, Reuters reporters saw riot police detain around 70 of Navalny's supporters. The OVD-Info monitoring group later reported 503 arrests across Moscow.

 

After his arrest, Navalny released a YouTube video making allegations about Putin's wealth that was viewed over 100 million times. The Kremlin said it was false.

 

Tuesday's hearing focused on Navalny's alleged parole violations over a suspended sentence in a 2014 embezzlement case Navalny says was trumped up.

 

POLITICAL RIVAL

Navalny, in a fiery speech to the court, alleged he was going to be jailed because of Putin's concerns about him as a political rival, a suggestion the Kremlin has laughed off, referring to Navalny as a marginal figure without wide popular support.

 

Putin, 68, has dominated Russian politics since 2000 and could rule until 2036 under constitutional changes approved in a referendum last year.

 

"Someone did not want me to take a single step on my country’s territory as a free man. And we know who and we know why - the hatred and fear of one man, living in a bunker, whom I offended by surviving when he tried to have me killed,” Navalny, 44, told the court from inside a glass cage.

 

After the verdict was read out, Yulia, his wife, removed the mask she was wearing because of the coronavirus pandemic and waved to her husband before giving him a shrug. Navalny shouted: "Don’t worry. Everything will be ok."

 

Putin, who the Kremlin said was not following the Navalny hearing because he was busy with affairs of state, said in December that reports the Russian state had poisoned Navalny were part of a U.S.-backed plot to try to discredit him.

 

Putin said Moscow would have finished the job if it had wanted Navalny dead.

 

Tuesday's hearing was the result of a request from Moscow's state prison authority which has accused Navalny of violating the terms of a suspended three-and-a-half-year prison sentence for embezzlement.

 

Navalny said the conviction, which was criticised by the European Court of Human Rights at the time, was politically motivated.

 

A prison service representative told the court that Navalny had violated public order many times since being handed the suspended sentence and had systematically failed to report in.

 

Navalny told the court he had been unable to report to the prison service at the end of last year because he was recovering in Germany from being poisoned. The prison service said its complaints pre-dated his poisoning and that Navalny had in any case been well enough to meet journalists after being discharged from a Berlin hospital in September.

 

Navalny, already serving a 30-day detention sentence in connection with the same case, told the court: "On what grounds are you saying you didn't know where I was? You're misleading the court".

 

Supporters have staged two straight weekends of nationwide protests demanding he be freed, despite a massive show of police force, the threat of arrest, bitter cold and the pandemic.

 

While the trigger for those protests was Navalny's arrest, some protesters say they have also taken to the streets to vent their frustration over declining living standards.

 

(Additional reporting by Gleb Stolyarov, Polina Nikolskaya, Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber, Tom Balmforth, Maxim Rodionov, Polina Devitt and Anton Zverev; Writing by Tom Balmforth/Andrew Osborn; Editing by Giles Elgood and Howard Goller)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2021-02-03

 

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[Tug]

That’s fitting imo poor guy probably won’t make it out of prison alive a very courageous russan patriot it’s also nice to hear our government speaking out on this matter old Putin won’t have such an easy ride with the Biden administration 

[pacovl46]

It was so stupid to go back! He could’ve done a much better job by staying out of Russia! 

[Poet]

My own underwear is pretty toxic, but for different reasons.

 

[PatOngo]

The Czar Putin will stop at nothing to silence opposition.........or threaten his place at the trough!

 

 

Edited February 3, 2021 by PatOngo

[Sujo]

Very brave man. Kudos to him.

[Mises]

I dunno, like most I know little of Russian politics and I am very sceptical of the MSM reports regarding Russia.  If Putin had wanted this guy dead he would have been dead.  Putin would not order the use of Novichok that killed 1 out of 5 victims in Salisbury, UK.  As for putting the poison in his underpants...  seriously!

[Proboscis]

8 hours ago, pacovl46 said:

It was so stupid to go back! He could’ve done a much better job by staying out of Russia! 

Oh, I think that Putin and his crony public relations people would have belittled him by saying that he is not a real Russian if he lives outside Russia. By coming back, he is ten times more toxic for Putin although, to be blunt, he is brave to the point of insanity. But many people love their country enough to die for it. Having said that, Putin would want to be really really careful. So many people have viewed that video on YouTube and the other stuff on social media that it indicates that this man has a following; if Putin tries to kill him again, the backlash will be enormous.

[Sujo]

2 hours ago, placeholder said:

Is Assange voluntarily returning to the USA to face the charges against him?

I have no idea why the poster decided to bring assange into it. Completely different issues.

 

What i find amazing/disgusting is that navalny got 2yrs and 8 months for breaching probation. 

 

For the love of buddha, he was poisoned and went to germany for hospital treatment. In the real world no judge would imprison anyone for a breach under those circumstances.

 

I expect him to be freed on appeal, but that may take time. Its a deplorable action of the judge.

[helpisgood]

9 minutes ago, Sujo said:

I have no idea why the poster decided to bring assange into it. Completely different issues.

 

What i find amazing/disgusting is that navalny got 2yrs and 8 months for breaching probation. 

 

For the love of buddha, he was poisoned and went to germany for hospital treatment. In the real world no judge would imprison anyone for a breach under those circumstances.

 

I expect him to be freed on appeal, but that may take time. Its a deplorable action of the judge.

Great post!  Thanks!

 

Maybe the judge doesn't want to be transferred to a court in northern Siberia.  ????

[sammieuk1]

A never ending era of despot dictators clinging on to power eliminating dissent at any cost ????

[placeholder]

9 hours ago, Mises said:

I dunno, like most I know little of Russian politics and I am very sceptical of the MSM reports regarding Russia.  If Putin had wanted this guy dead he would have been dead.  Putin would not order the use of Novichok that killed 1 out of 5 victims in Salisbury, UK.  As for putting the poison in his underpants...  seriously!

I guess for people who giggle at the mention of knickers and such, it might be hard to take this seriously. But for the rest of us, not so much.

[pacovl46]

14 hours ago, Proboscis said:

Oh, I think that Putin and his crony public relations people would have belittled him by saying that he is not a real Russian if he lives outside Russia. By coming back, he is ten times more toxic for Putin although, to be blunt, he is brave to the point of insanity. But many people love their country enough to die for it. Having said that, Putin would want to be really really careful. So many people have viewed that video on YouTube and the other stuff on social media that it indicates that this man has a following; if Putin tries to kill him again, the backlash will be enormous.

That’s why he’s gonna have an “accident” or catch a “disease” in the gulag! That man will never make it out alive! 

[Sujo]

And to add more issues. 

 

The russian doctor who treated navalny has died, age 55. No reason for the death has been public.

 

https://edition.cnn.com/2021/02/04/europe/russia-navalny-doctor-maximishin-dies-intl/index.html

[Henk Langeweg]

Maybe use the time to write a book. "Mein Unterhosen" as working title ...