Russia: 3 Navalny lawyers sentenced to prison

Three defense lawyers for Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny, who died in custody in 2024, were sentenced in Russia on Friday to between 3.5 and 5.5 years in prison.

Vadim Kobzev, Igor Sergunin, and Alexei Liptser were arrested in October 2023 and added to an official list of "terrorists and extremists" the following month.

Kobzev was sentenced to five and a half years in a penal colony. Liptser received five years and Sergunin three and a half.

The lawyers are accused of belonging to an extremist organization. Navalny's networks were deemed extremist following a 2021 ruling that outlawed his organizations as extremist groups.

Trial puts pressure on opposition

Navalny died suddenly in an Arctic penal colony last February. He had also been convicted of extremism and other charges, all of which he denied. 

His wife, Yulia Navalnaya, has described the lawyers as political prisoners. She said they were arrested simply for doing their jobs.

The case was widely seen as a way to increase pressure on the opposition and discourage defense lawyers from taking on political cases.

The Kremlin says it does not comment on individual court cases. But authorities have portrayed Navalny and his supporters as Western-backed traitors trying to destabilize Russia.