A Moscow court sentenced Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny to 19 years in prison Friday on charges of “extremism,” according to Russian state media.
The hearing took place behind closed doors at the prison colony in Russia’s Vladimir region where Navalny was already serving combined sentences of 11.5 years. Not even Navalny’s parents were allowed to attend.
Leonid Volkov, the chairman of Alexey Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation, wrote on Telegram shortly after the sentence was announced that Navalny “seems to have been given 19 years in a ‘special regime’” prison colony, noting that journalists were not allowed into the hearing and that the audio quality of the courtroom broadcast was poor.
This is a developing story.
