“You only do two days. That’s the day you go in and the day you come out”
Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny was sentenced to nine more years in prison, and in his usual calm and unfazed style, tweeted this quote from his favorite television show, HBO’s critically acclaimed The Wire.
Navalny added in the post that he liked The Wire quote so much he even had a T-shirt printed with the slogan, but that was confiscated, with prison authorities claiming the print was “extremist.”
The nine-year sentence for fraud and contempt comes after Navalny has already spent one year in the IK-2 prison in Pokrov, 62 miles outside Moscow.
Vladimir Putin’s most prominent critic had been serving a two-and-a-half-year sentence handed down on Feb. 2 2021 for parole violation, which Navalny says was fabricated to thwart his political ambitions.
The anti-corruption activist urged his supporter to continue to show their opposition to the Russian government.
In a 10-tweet thread on Twitter, which also referenced the time-loss experienced by Matthew McConaughey’s character in Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar, Nalvalny wrote: “I want to say: the best support for me and other political prisoners is not sympathy and kind words, but actions.
“Any activity against the deceitful and thievish Putin’s regime. Any opposition to these war criminals.”
Poisoned critic
Navalny was first jailed after he returned from Germany last year, where he was being given emergency medical treatment from a Soviet-era nerve toxin poison that was administered right before he left on a flight from Siberia to Moscow.
When he returned to Moscow, he was immediately arrested, but not before releasing a two hour long documentary called Putin’s Palace. History of World’s Largest Bribe, detailing corruption schemes for the construction of the $1.35 billion palace allegedly owned by Putin.
While in prison, Navalny and human rights groups have accused Russian authorities of using torture against him and Amnesty International recognized him as a prisoner of conscience.
As he entered the hearing today at the prison colony of Pokrov, a gaunt looking Nalvalny reportedly looked unfazed as he flipped through court documents as judge Margarita Kotova read out the charges.
The trial was held in the prison itself—a move officials explained was a COVID-19 safety measure, but Navalny noted was designed to limit news about the trial leaking out.
Journalists were not allowed to make any recordings in the courtroom and watched the sentencing from a live video feed.
Russian authorities have branded Navalny and his supporters as subversives, who are attacking the Kremlin to destabilize Russia with backing from the West.
Navalny’s opposition movement has been labelled as “extremist” and shut down, although supporters who have remained in Russia despite the threat of imprisonment have continued to express their political stance on social media.
After the verdict, his wife Yulia posted on Instagram: “The figure 9 means absolutely nothing. I love you, my dearest person in the world, and I’ve never stopped being proud of you all these many, many years.”
Navalny reiterated the sentiments, calling the added years in detention “just a sign above my bunk, that’s all. The numbers don’t matter.”
After his arrest, his lawyers and supporters also launched the Anti-Corruption Foundation looking to create a global organization to oppose his arrest.