Putin is the real prisoner of fear

More than pro forma diplomatic denunciations by the international community are required in response to the outrageous 3½-year prison sentence imposed on leading Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny. It would be hard to imagine a more farcical judicial process or one that better sums up Vladimir Putin’s corrupt authoritarian regime. Incredibly, Mr Navalny was found guilty of breaching existing bail conditions relating to a previous conviction when, in a coma and near death, he was evacuated to Germany for medical treatment last August following his poisoning with the Soviet-era nerve agent novichok. How Mr Navalny was supposed to maintain contact with parole officers as he battled to stay alive was not explained. But nobody really doubts the trumped-up nature of the charges brought against him.

As Mr Navalny told the court, “The main thing in this whole trial isn’t what happens to me. Locking me up isn’t difficult. What matters most is why this is happening. This is happening to intimidate large numbers of people. They’re imprisoning one person to frighten millions … (but) I very much hope people will not look at this trial as a signal that they should be more afraid. This isn’t a demonstration of strength (by Mr Putin) — it’s a show of weakness.”

This is a test of the resolve and strategic craft of the new Biden administration in the US. Foreign Minister Marise Payne has rightly expressed Australia’s “deep concern” about the treatment and detention of peaceful protesters and journalists in Russia, and her American counterpart, Antony Blinken, has promised the US “will co-ordinate closely with our allies and partners to hold Russia accountable for failing to uphold the rights of its citizens”. Perhaps the most effective approach would be a co-ordinated attempt to target Mr Putin’s vast personal wealth, much of it in Western banks, as well as that of his cronies. A price has to be paid for a perverse court ruling that imprisons a brave opposition leader who has survived a suspected assassination attempt when the culprits are not held to account.