Three lawyers who represented Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who died in jail in 2023, were sentenced to prison terms in Russia today.
Vadim Kobzev was sentenced to five and a half years, Igor Sergunin to three and a half years and Alexei Liptsen to five years.
The three Russian lawyers were arrested in October 2023 on charges of involvement with groups considered extremist, such as the networks of opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
The case was seen as a way of increasing pressure on the opposition to discourage defense lawyers from taking on political cases.
At the time, Navalny was serving a 19-year prison sentence for various criminal convictions, including extremism.
Navalny died in a Russian prison camp in February 2023.
