Putin critic Alexei Navalny gets 19 years added to jail term

Jailed Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny had an extra 19 years added to his jail term on Friday, in a criminal case which he and his supporters said was made up to keep him behind bars and out of politics for even longer. Navalny, known as President Vladimir Putin’s fiercest domestic critic, is already serving sentences totalling 11-1/2 years on fraud and other charges that he says are also bogus. His political movement has been outlawed and declared “extremist.“ A court at the IK-6 penal colony in Melekhovo, about 235 kilometres east of Moscow, where he is serving his sentences, was trying him on Friday for six separate criminal charges, including inciting and financing extremist activity and creating an extremist organization. Kira Yarmysh, the spokeswoman for 47-year-old Navalny, said she feared he would be facing even tougher jail conditions after his prison term was extended. “This sentence is not for him, it is for Russian people who witness him and see what is happening to him. Putin is trying to frighten as many Alexei’s supporters as he can,” Yarmysh said. For more info, please go to Subscribe to Global News Channel HERE: Like Global News on Facebook HERE: Follow Global News on Twitter HERE: Follow Global News on Instagram HERE: #GlobalNews #AlexeiNavalny #Russia