Kathmandu, February 3. A Russian court on Tuesday sentenced opposition leader and anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny to 2.5 years in prison. 

Earlier in 2014, Navalny was found guilty for fraud in a French cosmetics company. The court had decided to send him to jail for 3.5 years. But, his sentence was suspended with a probation period till 2020. He was ordered to show up for checks at Russia’s Federal Penitentiary Service(FSIN). But, since he didn’t follow the rules, the court on Tuesday decided to replace the suspended sentence with a real-time prison. 

Olga Mikhailova, lawyer of Navalny said that the legal procedures in Russia are exhausted, therefore, the defence will appeal to the European Court of Human Rights.

On January 17, Navalny was detained by FSIN officers while he landed at the Moscow airport. Demanding the immediate release, more than 15 thousand supporters demonstrated for weeks in over 60 cities all over Russia. The situation worsened when the police cracked down on the protestors.

Earlier on August 20, Navalny fell ill on a domestic flight in Siberia and was flown to Germany in a medical aircraft. He was kept in a medically induced coma for eighteen days during his treatment. In December, a Russian agent named Konstantin Kudryavtsev revealed that Navalny was attacked with a nerve agent Novichok, which was placed in his underpants. He also added that the call was made from a Federal Security Service (FSB) landline and he later removed traces of Novichok from Navalny’s clothes.

Novichok is a neurotoxic agent which is considered to be a chemical weapon that was developed by the former Soviet Union. According to an article on BBC, it is said that a Russian agent was tricked into revealing the details of the assassination. It is said that Navalny impersonated security personnel to call the agent. Recalling the trauma in October, Navalny told “They’ve been striving for a long time to force me out of the country,” further adding “I don’t know how events will develop, I’m not going to take risks. I have my cause, I have my country.”