A
court
in
Moscow
has
ordered
the
imprisonment
of
Yulia
Navalnaya
–
widow
of
late
Russian
opposition
politician
Alexey
Navalny
–
for
two
months.
The
court
accused
Navalnaya,
who
lives
in
exile,
of
participating
in
an
“extremist”
group.
The
decision
means
she
faces
certain
arrest
if
she
sets
foot
in
the
country.
Navalnaya,
47,
stepped
into
the
spotlight
following
her
husband’s
death
in
an
Arctic
penal
colony
in
February,
and
said
she
will
continue
the
fight
for
what
Navalny
called
the
“beautiful
Russia
of
the
future”.
Writing
on
X
on
Tuesday,
Navalnaya
told
her
supporters
to
focus
not
on
the
court
order
against
her,
but
on
the
battle
against
Russian
President
Vladimir
Putin.
“When
you
write
about
this,
please
don’t
forget
to
write
the
main
thing:
Vladimir
Putin
is
a
murderer
and
a
war
criminal,”
she
wrote.
“His
place
is
in
prison
and
not
somewhere
in
The
Hague,
in
a
cozy
cell
with
a
TV,
but
in
Russia
–
in
the
same
[penal]
colony
and
the
same
2-by-3
metre
cell
in
which
he
killed
Alexey.”
The
Kremlin
has
denied
ordering
Navalny
killed.
‘Fight
Putin’
Since
her
husband’s
death,
Navalnaya
has
met
a
number
of
Western
leaders,
including
US
President
Joe
Biden
in
San
Francisco.
The
US-based
nonprofit
group
Human
Rights
Foundation
named
Navalnaya
its
chair
last
week,
and
she
said
she
would
use
the
new
role
to
step
up
the
struggle
waged
by
her
husband
against
Putin.
“We
will
take
on
board
everything
that
can
be
useful
to
fight
Putin,
to
fight
for
the
beautiful
Russia
of
the
future,”
she
said.
Navalnaya
left
Russia
in
2021
and
has
lived
in
Germany
since
her
husband’s
death.
German
Chancellor
Olaf
Scholz
said
Navalnaya
is
carrying
on
her
husband’s
legacy
and
denounced
the
Moscow
court’s
ruling
as
“an
arrest
warrant
against
the
desire
for
freedom
and
democracy”.
Russian
authorities
have
not
specified
the
charges
against
Navalnaya.
They
appear
to
relate
to
authorities
designating
Navalny’s
Foundation
for
Fighting
Corruption
as
an
“extremist
organisation”.
The
2021
court
ruling
that
outlawed
Navalny’s
group
forced
his
close
associates
and
team
members
to
leave
Russia.
Navalny
was
imprisoned
after
returning
to
Moscow
in
January
2021
from
Germany,
where
he
had
been
recuperating
from
the
2020
nerve
agent
poisoning
that
he
blamed
on
the
Kremlin.
He
died
at
the
“Polar
Wolf”
Arctic
penal
colony
–
1,900km
(1,200
miles)
northeast
of
Moscow
–
where
the
47-year-old
was
serving
a
19-year
prison
sentence
for
a
variety
of
charges.
His
mother
was
told
by
prison
officials
he
died
from
“sudden
death
syndrome”.
Navalny’s
spokesperson
Kira
Yarmysh
alleged
he
“was
murdered”.
Navalny’s
death
removed
Putin
from
his
greatest
political
foe
who
organised
mass
anti-Kremlin
protests
and
crusaded
against
corruption.
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