On Wednesday morning, a court in Kirov, Russia, declared Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny guilty in a retrial of a 2013 fraud case. Judge Alexei Vtyurin said Navalny is guilty of leading a group that embezzled $500,000 worth of timber when he worked as an adviser to Kirov's governor. Navalny denied the charges and called them politically motivated, and the Russian Supreme Court ordered a retrial after the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Navalny did not receive a fair trial.
In 2013, Navalny was given a five-year suspended sentence, but the new guilty verdict alone bars him from running for president in 2018. He has already announced his candidacy and was raising money. Russian President Vladimir Putin has not said if he will seek another six-year term. Navalny rose to prominence in 2008 as an anticorruption blogger, and he was a main force behind the antigovernment protests in 2011 and 2012. Another protest organizer, Vladimir Kara-Murza, is in a coma after apparently being poisoned in Moscow last week.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
The week's best photosIn Pictures A sea of kites, a game of sand hockey, and more
-
G20: Viola Davis stars in 'ludicrous' but fun action thrillerThe Week Recommends The award-winning actress plays the 'swashbuckling American president' in this newly released Prime Video film
-
The Masters: Rory McIlroy finally banishes his demonsIn the Spotlight McIlroy's grand slam triumph will go down as 'one of the greatest and most courageous victories in the history of golf'
-
Nobody seems surprised Wagner's Prigozhin died under suspicious circumstancesSpeed Read
-
Western mountain climbers allegedly left Pakistani porter to die on K2Speed Read
-
'Circular saw blades' divide controversial Rio Grande buoys installed by Texas governorSpeed Read
-
Los Angeles city workers stage 1-day walkout over labor conditionsSpeed Read
-
Mega Millions jackpot climbs to an estimated $1.55 billionSpeed Read
-
Bangladesh dealing with worst dengue fever outbreak on recordSpeed Read
-
Glacial outburst flooding in Juneau destroys homesSpeed Read
-
Scotland seeking 'monster hunters' to search for fabled Loch Ness creatureSpeed Read
