US condemns opposition leader To Alexei Navalny the prison sentences of three lawyers in Russia.
– The Kremlin arrested and threatened lawyers who were just doing their job, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Matthew Miller said in a statement, according to news agency Reuters.
According to Miller, the verdicts are yet another example of the persecution of defense lawyers in Russia.
– In this way, Russia aims to weaken human rights, undermine the rule of law and suppress differences of opinion.
Guilty of “belonging to an extremist organization”
Vadim Kobzev, Igor Sergunin and Alexey Liptser were sentenced to 3–5 years in prison for being guilty of belonging to a terrorist group. The matter was reported by the independent Mediazona news service.
The trial of the trio took place behind closed doors. The lawyers were arrested in Russia in October 2023. According to the charges, the lawyers passed messages between Navalny and his contacts and thus helped him to continue his political activities.
Opposition leader Aleksei Navalnyi died in Russia in an Arctic prison camp in February of last year. Navalnyi served a 10-year sentence for leading an extremist organization.