Alexei Navalny Receives 3.5 Years in Prison Amid Mass Protests
HAVANA TIMES – In Russia, nationalist opposition leader Alexei Navalny has been sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison. Navalny will serve around two-and-a-half years since he has already served time under house arrest. His arrest has prompted mass street protests, with thousands detained in recent days.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other officials around the world condemned the ruling and called for Navalny’s release.
In court, Navalny struck a defiant tone, again accusing Vladimir Putin of ordering his poisoning with the nerve agent Novichok in August, and calling on his supporters to keep putting pressure on the Kremlin. “You can’t lock up the whole country,” Navalny told the courtroom.