Russian courts imprison Alexei Navalny, a prominent dissident who sparked some of the biggest protests Russia has ever seen.
On charges of violation of probation, Alexei Navalny is now facing two or more years in the infamously cruel facility, Penal Colony No. 2.
This decision is a telling sign of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s anger towards Navalny and others who worked with him in starting the nationwide protests and international unrest against the Russian government. Navalny was first detained when he flew from Berlin to Moscow in an attempt to return “home” after recovering from a nerve agent attack that the dissident blames on Putin himself.
Navalny was then jailed for several months, awaiting trial and a chance for freedom. The Russian government tried to quell the mounting animosity against Putin’s regime and prevent the exaltation of Navalny as a political martyr, but the movement was only empowered. International sanctions continued to be mounted against the Kremlin on the part of both Europe and the United States.
Protests continued to flood the streets, with tensions running especially high at 8 PM on February 2, when courts announced the verdict of Navalny’s case to the public. Russian riot police were quickly deployed. Some were seen throwing protestors in police vehicles while others dismantled the group. More than 650 people were arrested.
In an effort to evade the police force, Navalny’s supporters took complex, zig-zag routes through the city. Some even waded into the freezing cold water of the Amur Bay so the police would not follow as they shouted, “Putin is a thief!” and “Freedom to Navalny!”
To combat Navalny’s imprisonment, the Biden administration employed the use of sanctions against the Russian government, joining countries in the European Union. The Kremlin called the penalties “hostile”, but many opposition leaders argue that the US and EU did not go far enough. Maria Pevchickh, a Navalny supporter, tweeted that “the most painful sanctions, which, unfortunately, neither Europe nor the United States have yet reached, are the sanctions against the oligarchs.”
Even though Navalny was once considered officious and inconsequential, he has now become an important symbol for the emerging opposition force in Russia. Before his sentencing, Navalny spoke directly to his followers saying, “You can’t lock up a whole country.”
