Russia: 3 Navalny lawyers sentenced to prison
January 17, 2025
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.
US condemns sentencing of Navalny's lawyers
US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller condemned the sentencing of the three lawyers, saying it was "yet another example" of Russia suppressing dissent.
"In this case, the Kremlin arrested and intimidated lawyers who were simply doing their jobs to ensure a political prisoner was afforded his right to legal representation, turning defense lawyers into political prisoners themselves," Miller said.
"This is yet another example of the persecution of defense lawyers by the Kremlin in its effort to undermine human rights, subvert the rule of law, and suppress dissent," he added.
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 widow, Yulia Navalnaya, called for the lawyers to be freed "immediately." On her X account, she said Kobzev, Liptser and Sergunin are "political prisoners and should be freed immediately."
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.
Germany urges Russia to release Navalny's lawyers
The German government condemned the imprisonment of the three lawyers and called for their release.
"Today's shocking verdict comes as no surprise: Even those meant to defend others before the law face harsh persecution," human rights commissioner Luise Amtsberg said on the Bluesky social network, adding that the three "must be freed."
Meanwhile, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Kathrin Deschauer told a news conference that the case showed that Russia's "system of repression has reached another sad low."
dh/rmt (AP, AFP, dpa, Reuters)