Navalny’s sentence to lead to outflow of young lawyers, businessmen from Russia – Prokhorov

Alexei Navalny file photo

(Interfax – MOSCOW, July 18, 2013) The sentence of opposition activist Alexei Navalny is affecting the interests of small and middle-sized businesses and will lead to the outflow of young lawyers and businessmen from Russia, leader of the Civil Platform party Mikhail Prokhorov said.

“The sentence passed on Alexei Navalny and Pyotr Ofitserov is not just a sentence to the entire court system of Russia. An entire page in the history of Russian business has been turned and most likely has been closed. From now on, every person concluding a business agreement will know for sure that he can be put in jail at any moment for this agreement if there is a wish,” Prokhorov posted on his Facebook account on Thursday.

“Navalny’s sentence is a direct blow against the interests of small and mid-sized businesses, the basis of any developed society,” Prokhorov said.

“I wonder how many young talented businessmen and lawyers are already mentally packing their bags at this very moment,” he said.

The judge who returned the verdict “is apparently the only person in our country, who did not see a political dimension in the case of Navalny and Ofitserov,” Prokhorov said.

“The court ruling on the appeal is predictable. However, I very much want to believe that the children of Alexei and Pyotr have a chance to see their parents in the coming years not only during prison visits,” Prokhorov said.

[featured image is file photo from political protest]

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