Moscow: Jailed In a criminal case that Alexei Navalny and his supporters claimed was made up to keep him in jail and away from politics for an extended period of time, an additional 19 years were added to his original sentence on Friday.
The most vocal domestic critic of President Vladimir Putin, 47-year-old Navalny, is already serving 11-1/2 years in prison for fraud and other charges that he claims are false. His political movement has been labelled "extremist" and outlawed.
He was being tried on six different criminal counts on Friday at the IK-6 penal colony in Melekhovo, which is about 235 kilometres (145 miles) east of Moscow and where he is currently serving his sentences. The charges included inciting and funding extremist activity and founding an extremist organisation.
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It was nearly impossible to understand the judge because the audio feed from the court was so bad.
According to Navalny's legal team, the judge increased Navalny's sentences by 19 years as a result of the new charges. The court had been asked by state prosecutors to sentence him to an additional 20 years in a penal colony.
As he listened to the judge while wearing his dark prison uniform and being supported by his attorneys, Navalny occasionally grinned.
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A day earlier, Navalny predicted in a social media post that he would receive a lengthy prison sentence, but added that it didn't really matter because he also faced separate terrorism charges that could result in an additional ten years in prison.
Navalny claimed that the extra time in jail was intended to scare Russians, but he urged them to avoid this outcome and to seriously consider how to fight back against the "villains and thieves in the Kremlin."
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The accusations concern his involvement in his now-disbanded Russian movement, which the authorities claimed was attempting to spark a revolution by trying to destabilise the sociopolitical environment.