UFA, Russia -- A former regional leader of jailed opposition leader Aleksei Navalny's team has been sentenced to 7 1/2 years in prison on charges of extremism as Russia continues its brutal crackdown on civil society and dissent amid its ongoing war against Ukraine.
The Kirov district court in the capital of the Bashkortostan region, Ufa, sentenced Lilia Chanysheva on June 14 after finding her guilty of creating an extremist community, inciting extremism, and establishing an organization that violates citizens' rights.
Chanysheva's co-defendant, activist Rustem Mulyukov was handed a 2 1/2-year prison term on the charge of taking part in the activities of an extremist organization.
After the judge pronounced the verdict, the 41-year-old Chanysheva, who has insisted that her case is politically motivated and has maintained her innocence, expressed thanks to her supporters, urged her countrymen to continue to battle against authoritarian leaders, saying the situation "depends on all of us."
Afterward, people in the courtroom shouted, "Thank you, Lilia!"
Chanysheva's husband, Almaz Gatin, said it was "painful" for him to listen to the court ruling, "but that pain focuses me to continue to fight for my spouse's freedom."
"We will fight. This sentence will be certainly appealed in all possible instances. We will do everything for Lilia's full release," Gatin said.
Chanysheva's lawyer Sergei Makarenko told RFE/RL that her client's sentence was "illegal, ungrounded, and purely political."
"Sooner or later, the sentence will be cancelled and Lilia Chanysheva will be exonerated. I am deeply confident about that because of my years of professional experience," Makarenko said.
Chanysheva was arrested in November 2021 and went on trial that was held behind closed doors on March 1.
She headed the local unit of Navalny's network of regional campaign groups until his team disbanded them after a Moscow prosecutor went to court to have them branded "extremist."
The request was accepted, effectively outlawing the group.
Chanysheva's defense team said at the time that her arrest was the first since the movement was banned. The charges appear to be retroactive since the organization she worked for disbanded before it had been legally classified as extremist.
"This sentence is a crime, and all those involved in fabricating this case will be punished sooner or later," Navalny spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh wrote on Twitter, while Navalny aide Lyubov Sobol said President Vladimir Putin had "put one more hostage in a penal colony."
Rostislav Murzagulov, the former chairman of Bashkortostan's Public Chamber, a group involved in establishing a dialogue between society and authorities, told RFE/RL that Chanysheva was sentenced because she "is a sincere person," who refused to accept Putin's "unwritten deal," according to which, the society "had agreed to allow Putin to become a tsar in exchange of money."
Murzagulov stressed that Chanysheva was one of several Kremlin opponents recently sentenced to lengthy prison terms for openly challenging Putin's policies. The list includes Ilya Yashin, Vladimir Kara-Murza, and others, he said.
Navalny himself has been in prison since February 2021 after he was arrested the month before upon returning to Russia from Germany where he had been undergoing treatment for a near-fatal poisoning with a Novichok-type nerve agent that he says was ordered by Putin.
The Kremlin has denied any role in Navalny's poisoning.
Several opposition leaders and associates of Navalny have been charged with establishing an extremist group. Many have fled the country under pressure from the Russian authorities.