The ex-coordinator of Navalny’s headquarters in Barnaul was sentenced to 9 years

The court sentenced Vadym Ostanin, the former coordinator of Navalny’s headquarters in Barnaul, to nine years in a general regime colony, Navalny’s Team reports. He was accused of participating in an extremist community – the Russian authorities consider Navalny’s now defunct headquarters and the Fund to Fight Corruption, which he founded, to be such a community.

This is one of the harshest sentences handed down in Russia to Navalny’s associates.

In June, the prosecutor’s office demanded 11 years in prison for Ostanin.

46-year-old Vadym Ostanin was detained in December 2021 on criminal charges related to an extremist community and the creation of a non-profit organization that encroaches on the personality and rights of citizens. Both cases are related to the established Naval Fund for the fight against corruption.

Ostanyn has been under arrest since March 2022. He spoke about the difficult conditions of detention in the SIZO, health problems, and complained that he had not been allowed to see his relatives for more than a year.

The human rights organization “Memorial” recognized the Altai oppositionist as a political prisoner.

• After the arrest of Navalny and the designation of FBK as an extremist organization, the persecution of supporters of the opposition leader and employees of his regional headquarters, which were already mass in nature, intensified. Many of them left Russia.
• Navalny himself is now in the colony. According to a new criminal case, including accusations of creating an extremist community, he faces up to 20 years in prison.