Interfax: Russian politicians welcome Navalnyy news but Zhirinovskiy wants him banged up

(Interfax – October 16, 2013) Russian party leaders have for the most part welcomed the commutation of opposition leader and anti-corruption campaigner Aleksey Navalnyy’s sentence to a suspended one, on appeal, on 16 October. In reaction sampled by the Russian news agency Interfax, Vladimir Zhirinovskiy, of the nationalist Liberal-Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR), stood out, with his call for a “real” prison sentence against Navalnyy.

RPR-Parnas

Vladimir Ryzhkov, RPR-Parnas co-chairman, has welcomed the commutation of the sentence but insisted that this does not go far enough. Navalnyy, he said, must be acquitted.

Navalnyy ran for mayor of Moscow in September from RPR-Parnas.

“Clearly, we are pleased that Aleksey Navalnyy and (co-defendant) Petr Ofitserov remain free, but we still consider the verdict unjust, as the case is politically motivated and trumped-up,” Ryzhkov told Interfax.

Ryzhkov attributed the commutation of Navalnyy’s sentence to two factors: his “brilliant results” in the mayoral race as well as his popular support manifested by protests against his conviction, on the one hand; and, on the other, the aftermath of mass unrest in the Moscow suburb of Biryulevo-Zapadnoye (West Biryulevo) after an ethnic Russian was killed there, allegedly by a migrant. “The authorities will now have to build a normal law-governed state because, in addition to opposition protests, they are faced with nationalist thugs,” as Ryzhkov put it. The judgment confirms that society still has a significant impact on Russian politics, he summed up.

Yabloko; Prokhorov

Sergey Mitrokhin, the chairman of pro-democracy Yabloko, has, likewise, welcomed the news and attributed it to the authorities’ fear of new anti-government protests. He, too, described Navalnyy’s trial as politically motivated.

“They decided that too severe a sentence would send ripples through society. In addition, the government has decided to pretend that it is humane, as well as to improve its image,” Mitrokhin said.

Mikhail Prokhorov, Civil Platform leader, has also welcomed the development, which he said proves Navalnyy committed no crime but might still be pressured over it.

“This suspended sentence is the recognition that there was in fact no crime. Nevertheless, the politician, who has now been made famous all over Russia, remains in limbo – the possibility is there that at any time he could be jailed,” Prokhorov said on Facebook.

Upper house speaker Matviyenko

The verdict is unlikely to affect Navalnyy’s political career – once he serves his suspended sentence, Federation Council speaker Valentina Matviyenko has said.

“The law does not bar (Navalnyy) from political activity. Of course, his suspended sentence imposes restrictions for a certain period of time, but once these restrictions are lifted, anyone can fully exercise their rights, including political,” Matviyenko told reporters.

Zhirinovskiy; Limonov

Zhirinovskiy, on the other hand, has described the sentence as too lenient – Navalnyy, Zhirinovskiy said, belongs in jail (as reported by the Russian state news agency RIA Novosti).

“We’re outraged by this unjust ruling,” Zhirinovskiy said.

“I think, and so think all the deputies in the LDPR faction, that the Kirov Region Court has been too meek,” Zhirinovskiy told reporters. He went on to express the hope that the prosecutor’s office will appeal – for this “mistake to be put right and for Navalnyy to get a real sentence”, as Zhirinovskiy put it.

For his part, Eduard Limonov, a radical opposition leader, has said that Navalnyy is in cahoots with the Kremlin. “He is being made into an establishment politician. A nice offer was made – instead of prison to pretend that you’re one of the opposition. There is no doubt about his collusion with the authorities,” Limonov told Interfax.

[featured image is file photo from past political rally]