A court in Russia’s Barnaul has sentenced Vadim Ostanin, former head of Alexey Navalny’s local headquarters, to nine years in prison, Navalny’s team reports.
Photo: Vadim Ostanin
Ostanin first worked in Biysk and then in Barnaul. The activist was detained in December 2021 and charged with “participating in an extremist community” and “participating in a non-commercial organisation that infringes upon the rights of citizens”. The prosecution believes he continued working in Navalny’s organisations after they were deemed “extremist”.
The activist has been in a pretrial jail for over a year, where his health has deteriorated. He has lost over 30 pounds.
Navalny’s team said in a statement that Ostanin was held in “appalling conditions”. The jail staff has been putting him under psychological pressure and denying him medical aid to make him confess his “guilt”, the Navalny allies said.
On 14 June, a court in Ufa sentenced former head of Navalny’s Ufa headquarters Liliya Chanysheva to 7 years and 6 months in prison.
Chanysheva was charged with “calls for extremism” and taking part in an “extremist community”. Activist Rustem Mulyukov, who was on trial along with Chanysheva, was sentenced to 2 years and 6 months in prison for participating in an “extremist community”.
