The United Nations says the new sentence imposed today on Alexei Navalny raises renewed "serious concerns" about judicial harassment and instrumentalization of the court system for political purposes in Russia.

Human Rights Chief Volker Turk said the 19-year sentence was based on vague and overly broad charges of “extremism” and followed a closed trial on the premises of the prison.

Navalny, an opposition leader in Russia was convicted of extremism charges and sentenced him to 19 years in prison. Navalny is already serving a nine-year term on a variety of charges that he says were politically motivated.

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