The verdict of the Leninsky Court in Kirov today against Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny on charges of embezzlement attempts to silence yet another independent political voice in the Russian Federation.

Last year, the European Court of Human Rights had ruled that Mr Navalny had been denied the right to a fair trial in his prosecution in 2013 for the same charges.  

This latest decision, which effectively excludes Mr Navalny from the political arena, further constrains political pluralism in Russia and raises serious questions as to the fairness of democratic processes in Russia.