A court in Russias republic of Bashkortostan on Tuesday sentenceda former regional coordinator of the late opposition activist Alexei Navalnyto nine-and-a-half years in prison on extremism charges following a retrial.Lilia Chanysheva, 42, was the first of Navalnys associates to be arrested on extremism charges in November 2021.
Most of his other key aides have fled Russia and now live in exile.She headed Navalnys political office in Bashkortostans capital of Ufa until it was forced to dissolve in 2021, when the authorities blacklisted Navalnys activist network as extremist.An Ufa court last June handed Chanysheva a seven-and-a-half-year prison sentence forcreating an extremist organization, accusations that she and her allies dismiss as politically motivated.An appellate court in Marchsent the case to the republic of Bashkortostans Supreme Court after prosecutors appealed the sentence and requested to jail Chanysheva for 10 years.Bashkortostans Supreme Court on Tuesday handed Chanysheva a nine-and-a-half-year prison term, according to an announcement posted on her Telegram channel.Lilia shouldnt spend a day in detention, the Team Navalny Telegram channelsaid Monday, the day when the trial was originally scheduled to be held.But the authorities decided to take such heinous revenge on her in retaliation for her fight against lying, looting of the country and poverty.