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| A gaunt Navalny stood besides his lawyers in a room filled with prison security officers as the judge read out the accusations against him |
A Russian court on Tuesday sentenced jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny to nine years in prison on fraud charges, in a ruling that will keep President Vladimir Putinโs most prominent opponent out of active politics for years ahead.
Navalny, who was also found guilty of contempt of court, is already serving a two-and-a-half year sentence at a prison camp east of Moscow for parole violations related to charges he says were trumped up to thwart his political ambitions.
Navalny, who the court also fined 1.2 million roubles ($11,535), has dismissed the latest criminal case against him as politically motivated and pleaded not guilty.
