Navalny is convicted of a crime equivalent to gross fraud, which he has also been convicted of in the past.

During court proceedings a week ago, the prosecutor demanded a 13-year prison sentence followed by two years with restrictions, as well as a fine.

The dubious verdicts against Navalny have long meant that he was not allowed to run in Russia's elections, where all parties and candidates in one way or another need to relate to what the power in Moscow wants.

He and his anti-corruption movement have therefore sought to rally Russians behind the opposition alternatives that have the greatest chance of defeating Vladimir Putin's United Russia party in every constituency.

Alexei Navalny has been imprisoned since January 2021 when he was arrested after being hospitalized for a poison attack that he, his supporters and large parts of the Western world accuse the Kremlin of.

He is currently serving a two-and-a-half-year prison sentence in a penal colony east of Moscow.

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He has been described as the man Putin fears the most.

But who is Alexei Navalny?

Photo: TT