Three lawyers for Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny were arrested by Russian authorities on Friday. That reports Vyacheslav Gimadi, also a lawyer for Navalny, on X (formerly Twitter). These are Vadim Kobzev, Igor Sergunin and Aleksey Liptser. Authorities searched their apartments. Russia says it suspects the three lawyers of “involvement in an extremist group.” In Russia, this carries a prison sentence of up to twelve years.
One of the three lawyers, Kobzev, was expected to appear in court today with Navalny, thus AP news agency. Navalny has filed multiple charges against the IK-6 penal colony where he is currently being held. During the hearing that took place today, Navalny called the arrest of his lawyers “indicative of the condition of the rule of law in Russia.” Kira Yarmysh, Navalny’s spokesperson, told AP that Moscow wants to cut Navalny off from the outside world as much as possible. “If he does not have access to his lawyers, he will end up in complete isolation, to a level that no one can imagine.”
Navalny is the most outspoken opponent of Russian President Vladimir Putin. He has already been behind bars for two years and nine months, after voluntarily returning to Russia from Germany in 2021. He has been sentenced to more than thirty years in prison, including for alleged fraud and founding an ‘extremist organization’. At the end of September, Navalny announced through X that he would be transferred to an isolation cell for a year. Since his arrest, Navalny has depended on his lawyers to share messages with the outside world, including via social media.