Russia sentences Navalny to nine years in jail

The new sentence means Russia's top opposition leader won't be freed for another eight years, instead of a year and a half

A Russian court on Tuesday found jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny guilty of additional charges and extended his sentence to nine years in a higher security prison as Moscow seeks to wipe out remaining pockets of dissent.

The sentencing came on the 27th day of what Moscow calls its "special military operation" in pro-Western Ukraine, with thousands killed and some 10 million displaced.

"Putin is afraid of the truth, I have always said this. Fighting censorship, relaying the truth to the people of Russia always remained our priority," the 45-year-old opposition politician said in a post on Instagram after the sentencing.

He also urged Russians to resist "these war criminals". 

"Navalny committed fraud -- the theft of property by an organised group," judge Margarita Kotova said, according to an AFP reporter present at the hearing.

Navalny will serve his new sentence in a strict-regime penal colony, which will place him in much harsher conditions.

Navalny's defence team said the new sentence replaces the one he is currently serving, meaning that he will not be freed for another eight years, instead of a year and a half.

Last year the opposition leader was sentenced to two and a half years for violating parole for old fraud charges while recovering from a poison attack with Novichok nerve agent that he blames on the Kremlin.

He appeared for Tuesday's hearing in the makeshift court wearing his black prison uniform, with journalists watching via a video link.

Navalny has denied the charges against him, saying they were punishment for challenging 69-year-old Putin.

The prosecutors had last week called for Navalny's sentence to be extended to 13 years as well as for his transfer to a strict-regime penal colony.

"The figure 9 means nothing whatsoever," she wrote on Instagram.

Russia is seeing an unprecedented crackdown on dissenting voices, and AFP saw few Navalny supporters outside his penal colony on Tuesday.

Many well-wishers said Navalny should remain strong and healthy, predicting he would not have to serve out his sentence in full. 

- 'Predictable but shocking' -

The EU's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell called for his "immediate and unconditional release".

"The world is watching, and lamenting the disappearance of freedom and the repression of political opposition in Russia," the Canadian foreign ministry tweeted.

"The world must not overlook this sentence and its significance amid the horrific human rights violations we have seen as a result of Russian aggression against Ukraine."

Navalny's poisoning in 2020 with Novichok, a Soviet-designed military-grade nerve agent, and arrest on his return from rehabilitation in Germany last year sparked widespread condemnation abroad, as well as sanctions from Western capitals.

After his arrest, Navalny's political organisations across the country were declared "extremist" and shut down, while key aides have fled Russia.

In an effort to further control the information available to its domestic audience amid Moscow's action in Ukraine, Russia this month restricted access to Twitter, Facebook and Instagram and a court banned Facebook and Instagram as "extremist" on Monday.

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