Court rejects Navalny Ally Fadeyeva's appeal against 9-year prison sentence for 'extremism'

A Siberian court has rejected the appeal of Ksenia Fadeyeva, an ally of the late Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, against his nine-year prison sentence for “extremism”, local media reported Tuesday.

Fadeyeva, Navalny's former regional coordinator in the city of Tomsk, was among his few allies who remained in Russia despite the risk of criminal prosecution after her political network was banned as “extremist” in 2021. Fadeyeva was arrested later that that year and last December. , sentenced after being found guilty of creating an “extremist organization”.

The Tomsk District Court on Tuesday decided to reject Fadeyeva's appeal and keep her in a penal colony for nine years, according to the TV2 Telegram news channel.

The appeal hearing took place behind closed doors.

“I am still a deputy in the Tomsk city council and the people of Tomsk need to know what happens to someone they elected,” said Fadeyeva, elected in 2020. said THURSDAY.

The court's decision came a day after the European Union imposed punishments against several Russian judges, including three from Tomsk, for previous decisions that she said had violated Navalny's rights and freedoms.

A Tomsk judge was accused of imposing a “ban on certain actions” on Fadeyeva, according to the EU sanctions designation.

Navalny, Russia's most prominent opposition figure, died at the age of 47 in early February while serving a sentence for “extremism” in an Arctic penal colony.

Russia has used laws against entities designated as “extremists” or “terrorists” to impose years-long prison sentences on Kremlin critics, including Navalny.