Navalny, an outspoke Putin critic, sentenced to 5 years
Putin Opponent Navalny Convicted Amid Outcry Before G-20 Meeting
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-17/putin-critic-navalny-defiant-before-fraud-verdict-as-jail-looms.html
Bloomberg
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Alexey Navalny, who spearheaded the biggest protests against Russian President Vladimir Putin’s 13-year-rule, was sentenced to jail, sparking international condemnation as global finance leaders gather in Moscow.
Navalny, 37, was defiant after the five-year sentence for embezzlement was delivered and as he was led away in handcuffs by court officers in Kirov, 900 kilometers (560 miles) northeast of Moscow. Thousands of people have signed up on Facebook to attend tonight’s unsanctioned rally near the Kremlin organized by Navalny’s backers. Two people were detained during a march in Kirov, and rallies are planned in other cities.
“Don’t miss me,” Navalny said on his Twitter account after the sentence was read out. “The most important thing is not to sit idle; a toad won’t lift itself off the oil pipe.”
A lawyer and anti-corruption activist who helped mobilize tens of thousands of anti-Putin supporters in rallies in 2011 and last year, Navalny had vowed to contest the next presidential election in 2018 and put Putin and his billionaire allies in jail if he won. The ruling would preclude him from ever holding public office and risks transforming him into an even greater political threat to the Russian leadership.
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Here is what standing true to your beliefs and convictions actually looks like.
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