Pictures from some of the dozens of encounters Russia’s leading opposition figure has had with police, the courts, and unknown assailants through his years of public activism. Navalny has been jailed more than 10 times and has spent hundreds of days in custody since 2011.
Run-Ins Endured By Aleksei Navalny, Russia's Leading Opposition Figure
- By RFE/RL
1
Aleksei Navalny in court in December 2011 after his arrest during an unauthorized anti-government march in Moscow. Navalny was sentenced to 15 days detention for “resisting law enforcement officers.” It was the first of what would later become a regular occurrence for the opposition figure.
2
A sign expressing support for Navalny scrawled on the back of a truck outside the detention center where Navalny was being held after his December 2011 arrest. In February 2011, Navalny described President Vladimir Putin’s political party, United Russia, as “the party of crooks and thieves” in a radio interview. The phrase was widely picked up by opposition groups.
3
Navalny is escorted to a court session in Moscow in May 2012. He was detained during an opposition rally a day after the May 7 inauguration of Putin. Navalny was sentenced to another 15 days of jail for "participating in an illegal public event."
4
A journalist films Navalny’s Moscow apartment after it was ransacked by police on June 11, 2012. Russian police raided several opposition leaders' homes amid widespread anti-government protests in the spring and summer of 2012.
5
Masked men drive away after searching Navalny’s Moscow office on June 12, 2012. Navalny was later summoned for questioning by police, which prevented his participation in a planned protest.
6
Navalny and his wife, Yulia, during a break in court proceedings in Kirov in July 2013. Navalny was charged with stealing 16 million rubles ($500,000) from a state timber firm. He rejected the charges as trumped up. The court handed down a five-year prison term that was later reduced to a suspended sentence after widespread public protests.
7
Navalny and his brother Oleg (inside cage) during a court hearing in Moscow in December 2014. The pair were convicted of stealing around $500,000 from Russian firms during business dealings dating back several years. They rejected the charges. Aleksei Navalny’s sentence was suspended, but his brother served a full prison term of 3 1/2 years, being released in June 2018.
8
Navalny being detained after leaving a radio station in Moscow in January 2015. Shortly before, Navalny had snipped off an electronic bracelet he was required to wear while under house arrest for his 2014 suspended sentence.
9
Navalny sitting in a police van after being seized by police during a massive Moscow rally in March 2017. He was fined $350 for taking part in what the authorities called an illegal protest.
10
Navalny on his way to the hospital after being splashed with green dye by unknown assailants in Moscow in April 2017. He suffered burns to his eye in the attack.
11
Navalny leaves a Moscow jail in October 2018 after serving 20 days on charges of staging illegal protests.
12
Police detain Navalny during a rally in support of investigative journalist Ivan Golunov, who was detained by police and accused of drug possession on June 12, 2019.
13
Navalny, his eyes red and puffy, sits on a hospital bed in Moscow on July 29, 2019, after feeling unwell in his Moscow cell while serving a prison term on charges of calling an unauthorized rally. He said he believed he'd been poisoned. Doctors attributed it to an "acute allergic reaction."
14
A person watches a video on social media showing Navalny being carried on a stretcher by an ambulance team in Omsk after falling gravely ill from suspected poisoning while aboard a flight from Tomsk to Moscow on August 20.
15
A doctor at an Omsk hospital tells journalists that Navalny had been placed in an induced coma.
