Three lawyers who once represented the late opposition leader Alexei Navalny went on trial Thursday, as Russia‘s crackdown on dissent intensifies.
The lawyers—Vadim Kobzev, Igor Sergunin, and Alexei Liptser—were arrested in October 2023, accused of involvement with extremist groups, the same charges Navalny’s organizations faced.
The case is seen as part of an effort to discourage lawyers from defending political dissidents. Navalny, who was President Vladimir Putin‘s most prominent critic, had been serving a 19-year prison sentence on multiple convictions.
His organizations, the Foundation for Fighting Corruption and a network of regional offices, were outlawed in 2021. Critics argue these charges were politically motivated to stifle opposition.
Former Navalny’s lawyers Igor Sergunin, left, Alexei Liptser, center, and Vadim Kobzev, right, sit in the cage during a court session in Petushki, Vladimir region, about 120 kilometers (75 miles) east of Moscow, Russia, Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024.
Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP Photo
Authorities claim the lawyers passed information from Navalny to his team. Navalny, known for his anti-corruption activism, was arrested in 2021 after returning to Russia from Germany, where he recovered from a nerve agent poisoning. He blamed the Kremlin for the attack.
Initially sentenced to 2 1/2 years, his prison term was extended after two more trials. Navalny and his allies insist the charges are false and meant to keep him behind bars for life.
In December 2023, Navalny was moved to a penal colony in the Arctic Circle. He died there in February 2024 under unclear circumstances at the age of 47. His widow, Yulia Navalnaya, and his supporters accuse the Kremlin of orchestrating his death. Russian officials deny the claims.
Russian dissident Alexei Navalny before the hearing at the Simonovsky Court of Moscow on Aug. 3, 2017. On Thursday, a trial began for three lawyers who once represented Navalny before his death in 2023.
Alexey Kudenko/Sputnik via AP
The trial of the three lawyers is taking place in Petushki, a town east of Moscow. The court refused to move the proceedings to the capital, where the lawyers had been detained before trial. In June, they were transferred to a detention center in the Vladimir region, the same area where Navalny had been imprisoned.
On Thursday, the judge closed the trial to the public, rejecting protests from the defense. Before the closure, the three lawyers appeared in a defendants’ cage. If convicted, they face up to six years in prison.
Two other Navalny lawyers, Olga Mikhailova and Alexander Fedulov, are on a wanted list but have left Russia. Mikhailova, who defended Navalny for a decade, was charged in absentia with extremism.
For political prisoners in Russia, visits from their lawyers are often the only connection to the outside world. These visits provide crucial updates to families and help expose mistreatment by prison authorities. Human rights advocates, including Memorial, Russia’s Nobel Prize-winning rights group, have labeled Kobzev, Liptser, and Sergunin political prisoners. They are calling for their immediate release.
This article includes reporting from The Associated Press
