Russian court sentences Navalny ally to 18 years in absentia as dissident crackdown continues

Russian courts convict opposition figures in crackdown on dissent, sentencing one to 18 years in prison and another under house arrest.

Courts in Russia have convicted one Opposition figure in absentia and placed another under house arrest as Moscow continues its crackdown on dissent.

Leonid Volkov, a close associate of the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, was sentenced in absentia to 18 years in prison Wednesday after being found guilty on criminal charges.

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Moscow’s Second Western District Military convicted Volkov under 40 counts including justifying terrorism, organizing and financing an extremist group, rehabilitating Nazism, and creating a non-governmental organization that violated citizens’ rights, Russian news agencies reported.

As well as the prison sentence, Volkov was also fined 2 million rubles (approx. $25,000) and banned from using the internet for 10 years.

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“Oh no! They banned me from the internet for 10 years as prosecutors requested, but I've already been using it," Volkov wrote in a tongue-in-cheek social media post after the sentence was released. “Damn. Whatever am I going to do?"