Following yesterday’s closed-door hearing on the “extremism” charges against three of the late Alexei Navalny’s lawyers, the court in the Vladimir region of Russia announced that a verdict — which had been expected to be issued on Friday — would be delayed until January 17th. [AFP, January 10, 2025.]

While it is universally expected that guilty verdicts will be forthcoming — as they are in all politically-motivated cases in Russia — the question of sentencing of Igor Sergunin, Aleksei Liptser and Vadim Kobzev remains open. The charges against them carry sentences of up to six years, and prosecutors in their cases have demanded minimum sentences of five years.

While Sergunin has pled guilty, Kobzev and Liptser have denied the charges. In his final statement to the court, Kobzev compared their situation to Soviet-era repression under dictator Joseph Stalin. [Id.]

Another former member of Navalny’s legal team, Olga Mikhailova, who has been living in exile, said that prosecutors are demanding “savage” sentences for lawyers who “honestly and professionally defended Navalny for many years.” [Id.]

And so the three political prisoners await word of their fate for at least another six days. And we wait with them.

In the meantime, their names will join the others on my list of Putin’s political hostages, which tragically keeps growing.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
1/11/25