"Russian Court Convicts Opposition Leader" is an article published by the New York Times today, one of the many devoted to the final verdict against Alexei Navalnly and Piotr Ofitserov.
"Aleksei A. Navalny, a lawyer who became Russia’s most resonant opposition voice by crusading against rampant public corruption, was found guilty on Thursday of stealing money from a state-controlled timber company. He was sentenced to five years in prison — a punishment that immediately transformed Mr. Navalny, 37, who recently declared his candidacy for mayor of Moscow, from an opposition activist to a political dissident and prisoner," the article reads.
"Mr. Navalny — who became a personal irritant to President Vladimir V. Putin by branding his United Russia political machine as the “party of swindlers and thieves,” — was the first to use the Internet and social media as his main weapon against the state," the author adds.
Mr. Navalny’s co-defendant, Pyotr Ofitserov, a businessman and acquaintance who worked with him on the timber project, was sentenced to four years in prison.
"Much of the judge’s findings was based on the testimony of a third man accused in the scheme, Vyacheslav Opalev, who pleaded guilty and worked with the prosecution. In his decision, Judge Sergei Blinov called his testimony trustworthy and reliable. But during the trial, Mr. Opalev at times gave contradictory evidence, and defense lawyers were not allowed to cross-examine him. In addition, Judge Blinov barred the defense from calling 13 witnesses," the article explains.
The verdict quickly reverberated throughout the highest levels of Russian government and society and even sparked some calls for boycotts of the Moscow mayoral election and future national ballots. The verdict is "looking less like a punishment than an attempt to isolate him from social life and the electoral process," the article quotes Aleksei L. Kudrin, a close associate of Mr. Putin and former finance minister.
"As the verdict was delivered in Kirov, 600 miles away, Grigory Saksonov, 57, an electrician looking for work, was standing on Manezh Square in Moscow holding a sign that said : “Judge Blinov, you’re a donkey.” He was stunned to learn that Mr. Navalny received five years; saying he had expected a suspended sentence. “If it’s a real sentence, then it is two-faced meanness. So, Navalny will sit in jail, and the government will feast its eyes.” He added, “It was always a political process, even from the beginning,” the article concludes.
