Interfax: Protests against Navalny’s conviction will be insignificant – pro-Kremlin analyst

(Interfax – MOSCOW, July 18, 2013) The Russian opposition will try to take advantage of Alexei Navalny’s conviction in pursuing its political ends, but protests against this will not be very significant, says Sergei Markov, a pro-Kremlin political analyst and a member of the Public Chamber.

“Some actions have been prepared and will be held, but they will be very small. The other side will make use of (Navalny’s) conviction to undermine the legitimacy of the election process” in Moscow, Markov told Interfax on Thursday.

Markov claimed that quite a significant number of Navalny’s supporters “perfectly understand in their heart that this court has properly proven that Navalny did steal.”

Markov said he views a transcript of Navalny’s telephone conversations with Pyotr Ofitserov, a co-defendant in the same case, presented as evidence during their trial as proof of their guilt.

He also suggested that Navalny is not acting on his own.

“Alexei Navalny is not an independent public political figure. He is a foreign political project and looks more like a puppet in other people’s hands,” Markov said.

The Leninsky Court in Kirov sentenced Navalny to five years in prison and Ofitserov to four years in prison for embezzlement of property belonging to the state-run timber company Kirovles earlier on Thursday.