<p><img src="https://static5.businessinsider.com/image/6019167c6dfbe10018e01373-2400/GettyImages-1230924162.jpg" border="0" alt="MOSCOW, RUSSIA FEBRUARY 2, 2021: Opposition activist Alexei Navalny appears at Moscow City Court for a Simonovsky District Court hearing into an application by the Russian Federal Penitentiary Service to convert his suspended sentence of three and a half years into a real jail term. Navalny, who had been wanted in Russia since December 2020 for violating probation conditions in the Yves Rocher case, was detained at Sheremetyevo Airport near Moscow on his return to Russia from Germany on 17 January 2021. On 18 January, Moscow Regions Khimki Court ruled that Navalny be put into custody until 15 February 2021. Moscow City Court Press Service/TASS THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. EDITORIAL USE ONLY (Photo by Moscow City Court Press OfficeTASS via Getty Images)" data-mce-source="Moscow City Court Press OfficeTASS via Getty Images" data-mce-caption="Alexei Navalny seen at Moscow City Court for a hearing on February 2, 2020."></p><p></p><bi-shortcode id="summary-shortcode" data-type="summary-shortcode" class="mceNonEditable" contenteditable="false">Summary List Placement</bi-shortcode><p>Alexei Navalny, the arch critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, was on Tuesday sentenced to three-and-a-half years imprisonment by a Moscow court.</p><p>The 44-year-old was accused of violating <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/dec/30/kremlin-critic-navalny-given-suspended-sentence-brother-jailed">a 2014 suspended sentence for embezzlement</a> after missing several scheduled parole meetings with Russia's prison service.</p><p>Navalny will spent two-and-a-half years in jail, as he has already spent one year under house arrest, the judge said.</p><p>Lawyers for Navalny said he missed the meetings because <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/alexei-navalny-leaves-hospital-photo-similar-scars-yulia-skripal-novichok-2020-9">he was in Berlin, Germany</a>, receiving medical care following <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-preventing-alexei-navalny-leaving-country-medical-care-alleged-poisoning-2020-8">the August 20, 2020, poisoning attempt</a> on his life, according to <a href="https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2021/02/02/as-its-happening-navalny-in-court-a72803">The Moscow Times</a>.</p><p>When asked why he missed the meetings, Navalny told the court: "I was in a coma."</p><p>Navalny returned to Russia on January 17, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/putin-critic-alexei-navalny-detained-upon-returning-to-russia-2021-1">and was immediately detained</a> at a Moscow airport. On January 18, he was <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/18/alexei-navalny-calls-grow-for-release-of-arrested-russia-opposition-figure">remanded in custody for 30 days</a>.</p><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en" data-cards="" data-conversation=""><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Navalny to his wife Yulia ahead of his verdict <a href="https://t.co/yp1epXLfUe">pic.twitter.com/yp1epXLfUe</a></p> Evan Gershkovich (@evangershkovich) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/1356651607799328770'ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 2, 2021</a></blockquote><script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><p></p><p>Navalny intended to check in with law-enforcement officers upon returning to Russia, his lawyers said, but he was unable to do so because he was detained, The Moscow Times reported.</p><p>Navalny has <a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-vladimir-putin-berlin-germany-poisoning-ce99136291d011f758997fe355e64d12">accused Putin of ordering the hit</a> on his life, and an investigation <a href="https://www.bellingcat.com/resources/2020/12/14/navalny-fsb-methodology/">by Bellingcat and CNN</a> found that the attack was carried out by agents of Russia's FSB spy agency. The Kremlin <a href="https://apnews.com/article/vladimir-putin-alexei-navalny-poisoning-325535308e61b232343514fb2cdfe3a5">denies</a> involvement.</p><p>"Putin is not following today's Navalny hearing," the president's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, <a href="https://tvrain.ru/news/putin_ne_sledit_za_hodom_suda_peskov_o_sude_nad_navalnym-523834/">said Tuesday.</a></p><p>Navalny's detention <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-putin-is-a-thief-protesters-demand-alexei-navalnys-release-2021-1">prompted two weekends of protest across Russia</a>, where police detained and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-protesters-troll-putin-gold-toilet-brushes-2021-2">arrested thousands</a> of demonstrators, including Navalny's wife, Yulia.</p><p>At least 237 protesters who had gathered outside the Moscow courtroom in support of Navalny on Tuesday have been detained, the Moscow Times said.</p><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en" data-cards="" data-conversation=""><p lang="en" dir="ltr">. : - <a href="https://t.co/DmmgeH2I7w">https://t.co/DmmgeH2I7w</a> <a href="https://t.co/PCxralN0QM">pic.twitter.com/PCxralN0QM</a></p>(@mediazzzona) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/1356520971671322626'ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 2, 2021</a></blockquote><script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><p>The court also denied a request from Navalny's lawyers that the hearing should be filmed by TV crews. Journalists were not permitted to take photos, but official court photographs showed the activist in a glass box in the courtroom.</p><p>The 2014 sentence saw Navalny and his brother Oleg <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-crisis-navalny-idUSKBN0K80AA20141230">accused of stealing $500,000</a> from two firms, including an offshoot of the French cosmetics company Yves Rocher, between 2008 and 2012.</p><p>Oleg Navalny was sentenced to three and a half years in jail while Alexei Navalny was given a suspended sentence.</p><p>In early January 2021, Navalny's foundation released an investigation into what they say <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/alexei-navalny-video-accuses-putin-coastal-palace-corruption-2021-1">is a $1 billion coastal palace Putin is building in secret</a> that is funded by bribes. The Kremlin called the report "pure nonsense" and that the property had "nothing to do with either the president or the Kremlin."<br><br>In his closing statement on Tuesday, Navalny attacked Putin, <a href="https://twitter.com/christogrozev/status/1356591550176907265">saying</a>: "However much he pretends to be a great geopolitician, he'll go into history as a poisoner."</p><p>Read Navalny's <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/read-navalny-criticizes-putin-during-fiery-speech-in-moscow-court-2021-2">full speech here</a>.</p><p>The court took a break for two hours ahead of the closing statements, at which time Navalny asked the judge: "Can you send someone to McDonald's'"</p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/alexei-navalny-putin-critic-sentenced-after-poisoning-2021-2#comments">Join the conversation about this story »</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ocean-floor-much-deeper-humans-understand-animation-2017-3">This incredible animation shows how deep the ocean really is</a></p>
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