{"id":6341,"date":"2021-03-08T13:54:26","date_gmt":"2021-03-08T13:54:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.iquanta.in\/blog\/?p=6341"},"modified":"2022-02-13T23:37:08","modified_gmt":"2022-02-13T18:07:08","slug":"alexei-navalny","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.iquanta.in\/blog\/alexei-navalny\/","title":{"rendered":"Alexei Navalny\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 44-year-old blogger has millions of Russian followers on social media – many in<\/span> their early 20s or younger – and managed to get some of his supporters elected to local<\/span> councils in Siberia in 2020.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

His return to Moscow and immediate arrest on 17 January, after five months recovering<\/span> in Berlin from a near-fatal nerve agent attack, triggered mass protests across Russia by<\/span> his supporters. Police responded with force and thousands were detained for attending<\/span> the unauthorized rallies.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He speaks the street language of younger Russians and uses it to powerful effect on<\/span> social media. His Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) has made detailed claims about<\/span> official corruption.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

They include the recent <\/span>“Putin’s palace” video on YouTube <\/b>about a vast luxury Black<\/span> Sea palace, allegedly gifted to Mr Putin by rich associates. Its comforts are said to<\/span> include a skating rink, casino, and vineyard.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

More than 100m people have viewed that video, published after Navalny’s arrest. The<\/span> Kremlin (<\/span>Grand <\/span>Kremlin <\/b>Palace, commissioned 1838 by Czar Nicholas I, constructed<\/span> 1839\u20131849, today the official residence of the President of Russia) <\/span>dismissed it as a<\/span> “pseudo-investigation” and Mr Putin called it “boring”, denying the claims. Later<\/span> billionaire businessman Arkady Rotenberg, one of Mr Putin’s closest friends, said it was<\/span> his own palace.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A<\/span> Moscow court has sentenced Alexei Navalny to two years and eight months in a prison<\/span> colony in a landmark decision for Vladimir Putin\u2019s crackdown on the country\u2019s leading<\/span> opposition figure.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The move triggered marches in Moscow and the arrest of more than 1,000 protesters.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Navalny, who has accused the Russian president and his allies of stealing billions, was<\/span> j<\/span>ailed for violating parole from a 2014 sentence for embezzlement in a case he has said<\/span> w<\/span>as politically motivated.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

THE FRAUD CASE<\/b>\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

The case concerns alleged embezzlement from a Russian subsidiary of French<\/span> cosmetics firm Yves Rocher and from a timber firm, Kirovles. His brother Oleg was<\/span> j<\/span>ailed for three-and-a-half years and Alexei got the same term but suspended.<\/span> That 2014 fraud conviction itself was condemned in 2016 by the European Court of<\/span> Human Rights, which found that Navalny’s rights had been violated, and it ordered<\/span><\/p>\n

Russia to pay him and Oleg compensation. But later the Russian Supreme Court upheld<\/span> the conviction.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Y<\/b>ves Rocher<\/b>\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

In 2012, Navalny and his brother Oleg were accused of overcharging Yves<\/span> Rocher Vostok, a subsidiary of the French cosmetics company, for services<\/span> with their transport company Glavpodpiska.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Prior to the sentencing, Yves Rocher admitted that it had suffered “no<\/span> damage”.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But a Russian court in December 2014 nonetheless handed the brothers<\/span> sentences of three years and six months apiece. While Navalny’s sentence<\/span> was suspended, Oleg served his time behind bars.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Navalny and his allies believe the case was a ploy by the authorities to put<\/span> pressure on him and his family for his political activities.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A<\/b>rbitrary, unreasonable’<\/b>\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

In 2017, the European Court of Human Rights ruled the Navalny brothers had<\/span> been deprived of their right to a fair trial, denouncing the Yves Rocher ruling<\/span> as “arbitrary and manifestly unreasonable”.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Yves Rocher has defended itself, saying its Russian subsidiary “acted in<\/span> accordance with the practices and procedures of all international and<\/span> independent companies and the more general principle of business ethics”.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

No show<\/b>\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

As part of his suspended sentence, Navalny was expected to show up for<\/span> checks with Russia’s prison service (FSIN) twice a month up until December<\/span> 30, 2020.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n