MOSCOW: A court in Russia on Tuesday added two more years to a 7 1/2 year prison term of a former associate of late opposition leader Alexei Navalny, the latest step in the Kremlin’s yearslong crackdown on dissent.
Lilia Chanysheva, who used to head Navalny’s office in the Russian region of Bashkortostan, was convicted on extremism charges, and Bashkortostan’s Supreme Court extended her sentence to a total of 9 1/2 years, her lawyer Ramil Gizatullin said on the messaging app Telegram.
The hearing took place behind closed doors.
The Kremlin’s crackdown against opposition activists, independent journalists and government critics has intensified after Russia sent troops into Ukraine more than two years ago. Hundreds have faced criminal charges over protests and remarks condemning the war in Ukraine, and thousands have been fined or briefly jailed.
Chanysheva was convicted of calling for extremism, forming an extremist group and founding an organization that violates rights last summer. The charges against Chanysheva, who was arrested in November 2021, stem from a court ruling earlier that year that designated Navalny’s Foundation for Fighting Corruption and his regional offices as extremist organizations.
Navalny himself died in a remote Arctic prison in February. He was Russia’s best-known opposition figure and Putin’s fiercest critic. Navalny had been imprisoned since January 2021 and was serving a 19-year prison term on charges of extremism widely seen as politically motivated.
Opposition figures and Western leaders laid the blame on the Kremlin for his death — something officials in Moscow have vehemently rejected.
Kira Yarmysh, who had been Navalny’s spokeswoman, described the extension of Chanysheva’s sentence as “horror.”
“They had imprisoned a brave, honest woman because she fought for Russia’s future, and now they decided that they had given her too little time, that they should give her more” time behind bars, Yarmysh said on X, formerly known as Twitter. They are “simply monsters.”
A court in Russia adds 2 more years to the prison term of Navalny’s associate
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A court in Russia adds 2 more years to the prison term of Navalny’s associate
- Lilia Chanysheva, who used to head Navalny’s office in the Russian region of Bashkortostan, was convicted on extremism charges
- The hearing took place behind closed doors
Pakistan, Afghanistan exchange heavy fire along border, officials say
- Mujahid said Pakistani forces launched attacks in Spin Boldak district of Kandahar province
- “Pakistan remains fully alert and committed to ensuring its territorial integrity and the safety of our citizens,” Zaidi said
KABUL: Pakistan and Afghanistan exchanged heavy fire along their border late on Friday, officials from both countries said, amid heightened tensions following failed peace talks earlier this week.
There were no immediate reports of casualties.
Afghan Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said Pakistani forces launched attacks in Spin Boldak district of Kandahar province. A spokesman for Pakistan’s Prime Minister accused Afghan forces of “unprovoked firing” along the Chaman border.
“Pakistan remains fully alert and committed to ensuring its territorial integrity and the safety of our citizens,” spokesman Mosharraf Zaidi said in a statement.
The exchange came two days after a new round of peace talks between the South Asian neighbors
ended without a breakthrough, though both sides agreed to continue their fragile ceasefire.
The talks in Saudi Arabia last weekend were the latest in a series of meetings hosted by Qatar, Turkiye and Saudi Arabia aimed at cooling tensions following deadly border clashes in October.
At the heart of the dispute, Islamabad says Afghan-based militants have carried out recent attacks in Pakistan, including suicide bombings involving Afghan nationals. Kabul denies the charge, saying it cannot be held responsible for security inside Pakistan.
Dozens were killed in October’s clashes, the worst violence on the border since the Taliban took power in Afghanistan in 2021.
