The lawyer faces up to five years in prison for alleged links to Navalny's groups, which the Kremlin considers "extremist."

A Russian court has sentenced three lawyers who defended late opposition leader Alexei Navalny to several years in prison.

Friday's verdict comes amid a massive crackdown in Russia's war in Ukraine as it seeks to punish Navalny's associates since his unexplained death in an Arctic prison colony in February 2024.

Igor Sergunin, Alexei Liptser and Vadim Kobzev were killed by the Russian military about 100 kilometers (60 miles) east of Moscow The Petushki town court handed down sentences ranging from three and a half to five years for bringing information about the late opposition leader from prison to prison. The outside world.

The Russian independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta reported that Kobzev said in his final statement in court on January 10, "We are being tried for spreading Navalny's ideas to others."

They were arrested in October 2023 on suspicion of involvement in "extremist" groups, as authorities believed Navalny's network was involved.

The case is widely seen as a way to put more pressure on the opposition and prevent defense lawyers from taking on political cases.

At the time, Navalny was serving a 19-year sentence for multiple criminal convictions, including extremism, which he strenuously denied.

Navalny’s network, known as the Anti-Corruption Foundation and Network of Regional Offices, is considered an extremist organization after a 2021 ruling classified it as an extremist group and outlawed it.

The ruling, which Kremlin critics denounced as politically motivated and aimed at stifling Navalny's activities, opens up anyone associated with the groups to prosecution.

Authorities accuse the lawyer of using his position to pass information about him to his team, according to Navalny's allies.

Navalny, an anti-corruption activist and outspoken opponent of President Vladimir Putin, was arrested in 2021 after returning from Germany where he was recovering from a nerve agent poisoning he blamed Kremlin.

In December 2023, Navalny was transferred from a penal colony in the Vladimir region east of Moscow to a penal colony above the Arctic Circle, where he died in February of the following year at the age of 47. The cause of death is still unknown.

On Friday, his widow issued a statement calling for the "immediate" release of the three lawyers, calling them "political prisoners."

Two other lawyers, Olga Mikhailova and Alexander Fedulov, are also on the wanted list but no longer live in Russia.