STRATEGIC PAIN

Putin Critic Gets Suspended Sentence

But slaps brother with prison time.

A Moscow court handed down a suspended sentence to one of Vladimir Putin’s most vociferous critics, but saved a harsher punishment for his brother. Aleksei A. Navalny was spared jail time for criminal fraud charges, which Kremlin critics say were concocted to attack Navalny for leading mass protests against Putin three years ago. The decision not to jail Navalny is widely seen as a way to sideline him and stifle dissent in Russia. At the same time, Navalny’s brother, Oleg, who is seen as a political pawn, received a three-and-a-half year jail sentence that became effective immediately. “Aren’t you ashamed? Why are you jailing him? To punish me more?” Navalny shouted at Judge Yelena Korobchenko as his brother was jailed.