Headline RoundupMarch 22nd, 2022

Putin Critic Alexei Navalny Found Guilty of Fraud

Summary from the AllSides News Team

Alexei Navalny, the outspoken critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian opposition leader, was found guilty of fraud by a Russian court on Tuesday.

Navalny was sentenced to nine years in a maximum security facility; prosecutors were seeking a sentence of up to 13 years. Navalny is already serving a two-and-a-half year prison sentence after being arrested in February 2021 for violating probation terms. Prosecutors accused him of stealing over $4 million of donations given to his now-banned Anti-Corruption Foundation and other organizations. Navalny and many supporters dismiss the charges as politically motivated. He survived an assassination attempt in 2020 and blamed the Kremlin for the poisoning. After the verdict was handed down, he thanked supporters on Twitter, and said that the "best support for me and other political prisoners is not sympathy and kind words, but actions."

The news was covered similarly and prominently across the spectrum, with many highlighting reports that Navalny has been tortured in prison.

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