Navalny’s imprisonment: how Putin put his biggest opponent behind bars

The sentencing of opposition leader Alexei Navalny marks a dramatic turning point in Russian politics, says Andrew Roth

The Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny defied the odds when he survived an assassination attempt orchestrated by Russia’s FSB spy agency late last year. Navalny fell into a coma after being poisoned with the nerve agent novichok and nearly died. But after receiving treatment in Berlin, Navalny defied President Vladimir Putin’s expectations by returning directly to Moscow, where he was immediately detained and put on trial for an alleged violation of parole.

Moscow correspondent Andrew Roth was in the courtroom when Navalny was sentenced to more than three years in prison. He tells Rachel Humphreys why it was such a dramatic moment – and what it could mean for the future of Russia’s opposition.

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from The Guardian https://ift.tt/3q2FXlp