Russia sentenced the imprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny on Friday August 4, to 19 years in jail on extremism charges. Navalny accused the Kremlin of using this tactic to undermine the will of ordinary people and discourage resistance.

Russia on Friday handed jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny 19 years behind bars on extremism charges in what he said was a Kremlin bid to deprive ordinary people of “the will to resist”.

The heavy sentence against Navalny, who had mobilised the largest protests against President Vladimir Putin, comes amid a historic crackdown on dissenting voices as Moscow’s assault on Ukraine stretches into its second year.

In a statement posted on Facebook, Navalny, who was sentenced to 19 years at a “special regime” penal colony, urged Russians to keep up the fight.

Special regime penal colonies are jails with the strictest conditions of imprisonment reserved for Russia’s worst criminals including terrorists and serial killers.

He was arrested and jailed in 2021 after arriving in Moscow from Germany, where he had been recovering from a poisoning attack he blames on the Kremlin, one which sparked international condemnation.

Before his new conviction, Navalny was serving a nine-year sentence in a maximum-security prison for “embezzlement”, a charge his supporters say was trumped up in retaliation for challenging Putin.

Navalny had said on Thursday he expected the court to hand him a lengthy, “Stalinist” prison sentence.

Navalny has built a huge following on social media, where he has posted videos exposing alleged corruption among Russia’s elite and mobilised massive anti-government protests.

Prosecutors said Navalny created an organization that undermined public security by carrying out “extremist activities”.

Navalny said prison officials had forced him to share a cell with a sickly inmate and subjected him and other prisoners to “torture by Putin”, making them listen to the Russian president’s speeches.

He has also complained of health problems and major weight loss since being jailed.

In April, Navalny said he could be separately judged over terrorism charges and face life in prison.

His campaign offices around the country were declared extremist organisations in 2021 by authorities, putting employees, volunteers and supporters at greater risk of prosecution.

Khalil Wakim, with AFP