The Petushinsky District Court sentenced three former lawyers of Alexei Navalny - Vadim Kobzev, Alexei Liptser and Igor Sergunin - to imprisonment on charges of participation in an extremist community, reports "Interfax", quoted by Focus.
Kobzev was sentenced to five years and six months in prison, the sentence must be served in a general regime penal colony, Liptser - five years, and Sergunin - three years and six months.
In addition to their sentences, the court ruled that each of the defendants is prohibited from providing legal services for three years. They were found guilty of the charges under Part 2 of Article 282.1 of the Criminal Code for participation in an extremist community.
The court has upheld the preventive measure in the form of detention in custody until the verdict enters into legal force. The lawyers are expected to appeal the decision after clarifying their position with their clients.
The two main defendants, Kobzev and Liptser, have pleaded not guilty, while Sergunin admitted to the charges during the investigation.
Russian prosecutors have demanded that the defendants be sentenced to five years to five years and 11 months in prison. The trial, which took place in the Petushinsky Court on September 12, 2024, was held in camera, with the lawyers requesting limited access to the sessions due to the possibility of threats to the participants from members of the extremist community they are accused of.
The prosecutor's office claims that the lawyers passed information to Alexei Navalny while he was in a colony in the Vladimir region, in order to support his "leadership" in the extremist community.
Two other of Navalny's lawyers, Olga Mikhailova and Alexander Fedulov, were arrested in absentia and put on the wanted list on similar charges.