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Aleksei Navalny: A Life Of Politics, Protest, And Prison Time

Updated

Russian opposition leader Aleksei Navalny, 47, has been jailed more than 10 times since 2011 and, until August 4, 2023, was serving prison terms of nine years and 2 1/2 years on a variety of charges, including embezzlement. On August 4, he was sentenced to 19 years in a maximum-security “special regime” prison after being convicted of extremism and other charges that he calls absurd.

RFE/RL looks back on some of the more memorable challenges that Russia's most prominent anti-Kremlin figure has faced in his years of public activism.

In the span of a decade, Aleksei Navalny (pictured in 2010), opposition leader, corporate lawyer, and anti-corruption activist, went from the Kremlin's biggest foe to Russia's most prominent political prisoner.
1 In the span of a decade, Aleksei Navalny (pictured in 2010), opposition leader, corporate lawyer, and anti-corruption activist, went from the Kremlin's biggest foe to Russia's most prominent political prisoner.
Navalny looks out of the window of his cell in Moscow in December 2011. He was sentenced to 15 days of detention for "resisting law enforcement officers." It was the first of what would later become regular occurrences.  
2 Navalny looks out of the window of his cell in Moscow in December 2011. He was sentenced to 15 days of detention for "resisting law enforcement officers." It was the first of what would later become regular occurrences.
 
Navalny (left) was detained by police during a Moscow rally on March 5, 2012, after Vladimir Putin was declared to have won the presidential election. Navalny described Putin's party, United Russia, as "the party of crooks and thieves." 
3 Navalny (left) was detained by police during a Moscow rally on March 5, 2012, after Vladimir Putin was declared to have won the presidential election.

Navalny described Putin's party, United Russia, as "the party of crooks and thieves." 
Jubilant supporters embrace Navalny in May 2012 after he and left-wing politician Sergei Udaltsov were released from detention after serving a 15-day sentence for "participating in an illegal public event" in Moscow. The two were arrested as they protested Putin's inauguration.
4 Jubilant supporters embrace Navalny in May 2012 after he and left-wing politician Sergei Udaltsov were released from detention after serving a 15-day sentence for "participating in an illegal public event" in Moscow. The two were arrested as they protested Putin's inauguration.
In December 2012, Navalny was apprehended during an unapproved rally in the heart of Moscow. Opposition figures claimed that they were detained to prevent them from participating in a protest against Putin.
5 In December 2012, Navalny was apprehended during an unapproved rally in the heart of Moscow. Opposition figures claimed that they were detained to prevent them from participating in a protest against Putin.
Navalny and his wife, Yulia, sit together after a court hearing as a supporter with a poster reading "For Navalny" looks on in the northwestern city of Kirov on May 16, 2013.  Accused of embezzlement, Navalny insisted the charges were revenge for his exposure of high-level government corruption and for his campaigns against Putin.
6 Navalny and his wife, Yulia, sit together after a court hearing as a supporter with a poster reading "For Navalny" looks on in the northwestern city of Kirov on May 16, 2013. 

Accused of embezzlement, Navalny insisted the charges were revenge for his exposure of high-level government corruption and for his campaigns against Putin.
The couple travels from Kirov to Moscow on a train on July 20, 2013, when he was released after receiving a suspended sentence on the embezzlement charge.  
7 The couple travels from Kirov to Moscow on a train on July 20, 2013, when he was released after receiving a suspended sentence on the embezzlement charge.

 
Navalny and his brother and co-defendant, Oleg, attend a court hearing in Moscow on December 30, 2014, in a separate embezzlement case. The court ruled that Navalny be given a suspended sentence but jailed Oleg for 3 1/2 years. 
8 Navalny and his brother and co-defendant, Oleg, attend a court hearing in Moscow on December 30, 2014, in a separate embezzlement case. The court ruled that Navalny be given a suspended sentence but jailed Oleg for 3 1/2 years. 
Navalny tries to get up after he and his associates were attacked by a group of Cossacks at the Anapa airport in southern Russia in May 2016.  
9 Navalny tries to get up after he and his associates were attacked by a group of Cossacks at the Anapa airport in southern Russia in May 2016.
 
Navalny moments after he was attacked by an unidentified assailant who splashed him with a green antiseptic liquid known as zelyonka outside of a meeting in Moscow on April 27, 2017.
10 Navalny moments after he was attacked by an unidentified assailant who splashed him with a green antiseptic liquid known as zelyonka outside of a meeting in Moscow on April 27, 2017.
Yulia, Navalny's wife, tends to him after the attack. He suffered burns to his eyes.
11 Yulia, Navalny's wife, tends to him after the attack. He suffered burns to his eyes.
The couple celebrates as he is nominated for the presidential election race in Moscow on December 24, 2017. Navalny ran a yearlong grassroots campaign and staged waves of rallies to push the Kremlin to let him run.
12 The couple celebrates as he is nominated for the presidential election race in Moscow on December 24, 2017. Navalny ran a yearlong grassroots campaign and staged waves of rallies to push the Kremlin to let him run.
Navalny heads to Russia's Central Election Commission in Moscow on December 25, 2017. Navalny was disqualified from running due to his criminal conviction. The move was widely perceived as politically motivated.
13 Navalny heads to Russia's Central Election Commission in Moscow on December 25, 2017.

Navalny was disqualified from running due to his criminal conviction. The move was widely perceived as politically motivated.
Police detain Navalny on June 12, 2019, during a rally in support of investigative journalist Ivan Golunov, who was arrested and accused of drug possession.
14 Police detain Navalny on June 12, 2019, during a rally in support of investigative journalist Ivan Golunov, who was arrested and accused of drug possession.
A visibly unwell Navalny, his eyes red and puffy, sits on a hospital bed in Moscow on July 29, 2019, while serving a 30-day prison term on charges of calling an unauthorized protest. He said he believed he'd been poisoned, but doctors attributed his illness to an "acute allergic reaction."
15 A visibly unwell Navalny, his eyes red and puffy, sits on a hospital bed in Moscow on July 29, 2019, while serving a 30-day prison term on charges of calling an unauthorized protest. He said he believed he'd been poisoned, but doctors attributed his illness to an "acute allergic reaction."
Navalny and his family pose for a photo after voting during a city-council election in Moscow on September 8, 2019. Navalny claimed that the Russian government had frozen all of his bank accounts, as well as those of his wife, his two children, and his elderly parents.
16 Navalny and his family pose for a photo after voting during a city-council election in Moscow on September 8, 2019. Navalny claimed that the Russian government had frozen all of his bank accounts, as well as those of his wife, his two children, and his elderly parents.
Ivan Zhdanov (left), Lyubov Sobol (center), and Navalny take part in a rally to mark the fifth anniversary of the killing of opposition politician Boris Nemtsov outside the Kremlin walls in 2015 and to protest against proposed amendments to the constitution in Moscow on February 29, 2020.
17 Ivan Zhdanov (left), Lyubov Sobol (center), and Navalny take part in a rally to mark the fifth anniversary of the killing of opposition politician Boris Nemtsov outside the Kremlin walls in 2015 and to protest against proposed amendments to the constitution in Moscow on February 29, 2020.
A person watches a video showing Navalny being carried on a stretcher by an ambulance team in Omsk after falling gravely ill from suspected poisoning while aboard a flight from Tomsk to Moscow on August 20, 2020.
18 A person watches a video showing Navalny being carried on a stretcher by an ambulance team in Omsk after falling gravely ill from suspected poisoning while aboard a flight from Tomsk to Moscow on August 20, 2020.
Navalny poses for a picture with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital on September 15, 2020. German doctors who treated Navalny announced that he had been poisoned with a nerve agent from the Novichok group, a deadly chemical weapon. Navalny spent weeks in a medically induced coma.  
19 Navalny poses for a picture with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital on September 15, 2020.

German doctors who treated Navalny announced that he had been poisoned with a nerve agent from the Novichok group, a deadly chemical weapon. Navalny spent weeks in a medically induced coma.
 
Navalny is surrounded by journalists inside the plane in Berlin prior to his flight to Moscow on January 17, 2021. After recovering from his poisoning, Navalny decided to return to Russia. Upon arrival in Moscow, he was detained on charges of violating the terms of his probation by leaving the country without permission.
20 Navalny is surrounded by journalists inside the plane in Berlin prior to his flight to Moscow on January 17, 2021.

After recovering from his poisoning, Navalny decided to return to Russia. Upon arrival in Moscow, he was detained on charges of violating the terms of his probation by leaving the country without permission.
Navalny makes the heart symbol during a hearing at the city court in Moscow on February 2, 2021. He was sentenced to two years and eight months in prison. 
21 Navalny makes the heart symbol during a hearing at the city court in Moscow on February 2, 2021. He was sentenced to two years and eight months in prison. 
People draw hearts with their cell-phone flashlights in support of Navalny in Moscow in February 2021. Opposition leaders urged people to shine their flashlights in a sign of solidarity with Navalny as the country experienced several weekends of nationwide protests.
22 People draw hearts with their cell-phone flashlights in support of Navalny in Moscow in February 2021. Opposition leaders urged people to shine their flashlights in a sign of solidarity with Navalny as the country experienced several weekends of nationwide protests.
Navalny appears via video link in a Moscow courtroom on May 24, 2022.   Lawyer Vadim Kobzev said on July 21, 2023, that Navalny was sent to solitary confinement for 13 days for "improperly introducing himself to a guard." It was his 17th time in a punitive solitary confinement cell since August 2022. A day earlier, prosecutors requested that the court sentence him to another 20 years on charges including extremism.  
23 Navalny appears via video link in a Moscow courtroom on May 24, 2022.  

Lawyer Vadim Kobzev said on July 21, 2023, that Navalny was sent to solitary confinement for 13 days for "improperly introducing himself to a guard." It was his 17th time in a punitive solitary confinement cell since August 2022. A day earlier, prosecutors requested that the court sentence him to another 20 years on charges including extremism.

 
Aleksei Navalny (second from left) listens as the guilty verdict against him is read out on August 4, 2023. He was sentenced to 19 years in Russia's harshest prison regime. He was convicted under six articles of the Criminal Code, including creating and financing an extremist community, calling for extremism, rehabilitating Nazism, and involving minors in dangerous acts.
24 Aleksei Navalny (second from left) listens as the guilty verdict against him is read out on August 4, 2023. He was sentenced to 19 years in Russia's harshest prison regime.

He was convicted under six articles of the Criminal Code, including creating and financing an extremist community, calling for extremism, rehabilitating Nazism, and involving minors in dangerous acts.
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