More Years Added to Navalny Associate’s Jail Time

In Moscow, a tribunal in Russia augmented the duration of incarceration by an additional two years for a former associate of the deceased opposition luminary, Alexei Navalny, marking another progression in the Kremlin’s extensive campaign against dissension.

Lilia Chanysheva, who formerly presided over Navalny’s bureau in the Russian territory of Bashkortostan, found herself ensnared in extremism accusations. Bashkortostan’s Supreme Court elongated her custodial term to a cumulative span of 9 1/2 years, as delineated by her legal counsel Ramil Gizatullin via the messaging application Telegram. The tribunal session was conducted in confidentiality.

The Kremlin’s endeavor to suppress opposition activists, autonomous journalists, and government detractors has escalated subsequent to Russia’s incursion into Ukraine more than twenty-four months ago. Scores of individuals have been indicted for participating in protests or issuing statements denouncing the conflict in Ukraine, with thousands facing financial penalties or brief detention periods.

Chanysheva faced conviction last summer for inciting extremism, orchestrating an extremist faction, and establishing an entity that infringes upon rights. Her apprehension in November 2021 culminated in charges stemming from a court ruling earlier that year which designated Navalny’s Foundation for Fighting Corruption and its regional branches as extremist entities.

Navalny himself perished in a secluded Arctic penitentiary in February. He remained the most recognizable figure of opposition within Russia and the most vehement critic of Putin. Navalny had been in custody since January 2021 and was serving a nineteen-year sentence for charges of extremism widely believed to be politically motivated.

Criticism from opposition figures and Western dignitaries was directed squarely at the Kremlin following his demise — a contention that officials in Moscow vigorously rebuffed. Kira Yarmysh, previously Navalny’s spokesperson, decried the extension of Chanysheva’s sentence as “horrifying.”

“They have incarcerated a valiant, honorable woman because she championed the future of Russia, and now they have deemed her initial sentence insufficient, opting to subject her to a protracted period of imprisonment,” Yarmysh lamented on X, previously recognized as Twitter. “They are, in essence, monstrous.”