Three lawyers for the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny were today found guilty by a Russian court of membership in an extremist organization and sentenced to prison terms ranging from 3.5 to 5.5 years, the Mediazona news network reported.

Vadim Kobzhev, Igor Sergunin and Alexei Lipser were arrested in October 2023 and the following month were added to the official list of “terrorists and extremists.”

Navalny, who died suddenly in an Arctic penal colony last February, was also convicted of extremism and other charges, all of which he denied. His wife Yulia Navalnaya called the lawyers political prisoners and said they were arrested for simply doing their jobs.

The Kremlin says it does not comment on individual court cases, but authorities have labeled Navalny and his supporters as Western-backed traitors who want to destabilize Russia.

According to Mediazona, Sergunin was sentenced to 3.5 years in a penal colony, Lipcher was sentenced to five years and Kobzhev to 5.5 years in prison. Their trial was held behind closed doors.