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Russian Authorities Consider Giving Navalny a Jail Term

Charles Maynes

   TheRussian general prosecutor's office said Monday that that
   itsupportsa request by the federal prison system toimposea jail
   termonopposition leaderand Kremlin criticAlexey Navalny, instead of
   asuspended sentence.

   Navalny faces the possibility of a 3.5-year prisonsentenceover charges
   he violated the parole terms of a 2014 suspended sentence the European
   Court of Human Rights later deemed baseless.

   Navalnyis being held in pre-trial detention for 30 daysfor alleged
   parole violations upon his return to Russia from Germanyin
   mid-January,following a lengthy recuperation from a near-lethal
   poisoning attack the opposition politician has blamed on the government
   of President Vladimir Putin.'¯

   The Kremlin denied involvement but refused to investigate the
   assassination attempt, citing a lack of evidence.'¯

   Thousands protested in cities across Russia on Sunday, defying threats
   of arrest by the government for a second straight weekend,
   demandingNavalny'srelease.

   As of late Sunday, independent monitoring groups reportedwellmore than
   5,000 arrests, including Navalny's wife,Yulia, during proteststhe
   government saw as "unauthorized."

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