Three lawyers who represented the late opposition leader Alexei Navalny were sentenced to years in a Russian penal colony on Friday, after being found guilty of belonging to an extremist group.
Igor Sergunin, Alexei Liptser, and Vadim Kobzev were handed prison terms of three and a half, five, and five and a half years, respectively, following a closed-door trial in the Vladimir region, east of Moscow. The trio had been arrested in October 2023 and subsequently added to Russia’s official list of “terrorists and extremists.”
Human rights organizations and Navalny’s widow, Yulia Navalnaya, condemned the sentences.
“Vadim, Alexei, and Igor are political prisoners and must be released immediately,” Navalnaya said. She has accused Russian authorities of targeting the lawyers for their role in defending her husband and supporting dissent.
Rights group OVD-Info described the case as a significant escalation in the Kremlin’s suppression of dissent. “Lawyers cannot be persecuted for their work,” the group said in a statement. “Pressure on defense lawyers risks destroying the little that remains of the rule of law, whose appearance the Russian authorities are still trying to maintain.”
The group argued that Navalny’s lawyers were prosecuted solely for their commitment to upholding the law and ensuring Navalny was not left to face Russia’s “repressive machine” alone.
Navalny, a prominent critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, died suddenly at age 47 in February last year while imprisoned in an Arctic penal colony. His death sparked international outcry, with Navalnaya accusing Putin of orchestrating his murder—an allegation the Kremlin denies.
Despite being imprisoned, Navalny used legal channels to post on social media and speak out against Putin’s government and the war in Ukraine. His lawyers were accused of facilitating these communications, enabling him to lead an “extremist group” from behind bars.
The Kremlin has consistently sought to portray Navalny and his supporters as Western-backed agents attempting to destabilize Russia. Officials have declined to comment on the trial but maintain that the charges against Navalny and his associates were legitimate.
Supporters applauded the lawyers as they stood in a barred cage during sentencing. A woman shouted, “Boys, you are heroes,” as the courtroom erupted in applause.
Navalnaya, who is wanted in Russia for alleged extremist activity, continues to advocate for political change. She has expressed her desire to one day return to Russia and run for president.
