The three attorneys have been found guilty of helping the opposition figure lead an extremist group from behind bars
A Russian court has sentenced three former lawyers of late Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny to prison terms of 3.5 to 5.5 years over membership in an extremist organization.
The judge, who announced the verdict on Friday, gave Vadim Kobzev 5.5 years in a general regime penal colony, with Aleksey Liptser and Igor Sergunin receiving five and three years, respectively. The three were also banned from providing legal services for three years.
During the closed-doors trial, which began in September at a district court in Vladimir Region, Russia, Kobzev and Liptser denied any wrongdoing, while Sergunin pled guilty.
According to the prosecutors, the lawyers helped Navalny remain in control of his organization while he was held at a penal colony in Vladimir Region from 2021 to 2023. He was later moved to another correctional facility in Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Region in the north of the country.
Kobzev, Liptser, and Sergunin were part of Navalny’s “extremist community” and used their meetings with the opposition figure to pass on messages between him and his associates from the Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK), the prosecutors said.
The defense for the three lawyers said they will appeal the ruling after consulting with their clients.
Arrest warrants were also previously issued for two other Navalny attorneys – Olga Mikhailova and Aleksandr Fedolov. Both were placed on a wanted list on similar charges of being part of an extremist organization.
Navalny, who had been serving a lengthy prison sentence stemming from violations of the terms of a previous fraud conviction and his “extremist activities,” died behind bars in February 2024.
The prison authorities said the 47-year-old suddenly felt ill after a walk and collapsed, with efforts to resuscitate him failing.
According to Navalny’s widow, Russia’s Investigative Committee informed her in a letter that her husband’s death “was not criminal in nature,” but was instead a result of health issues aggravated by several chronic diseases.
