opposition leader. funny and uncompromising in the way he stands up against putin and did well running for mayor of moscow recently and declared the intention to run for president next year against vladimir putin. obviously, that can t stand. two weeks ago a court in russia convicted him on random charges involving timber futures. when that hammer fell on him, one of our smartest russia watchers said the trump administration notably said nothing. rachel was on that as soon as it happened so we re russia watchers who understood what the implication was. tonight, i can report that russia central election commission is now using that saying he cannot run against putin under the rules because of that conviction rachel was reporting on. to be clear, human rights experts and watchers of the region say this is clearly a plilt cli vote mated move to block the candidacy, not an actual real legal situation.
than i am. this week the person, vladimir putin, took extraordinary steps to bar his only really truly well-known and serious opposition challenge exalexei navalni. you ve probably heard of the opposition and the consequences facing. here is rachel maddow on this in february. he s a smart, charismatic opposition leader. funny and uncompromising in the way he stands up against putin and did well running for mayor of moscow recently and declared the intention to run for president next year against vladimir putin. obviously, that can t stand. two weeks ago a court in russia convicted him on random charges involving timber futures. when that hammer fell on him, one of our smartest russia
wellny, the man who s group put together the drones. he s tallahassee guy who was dyed green recently, campaigning in siberia when someone the law chemical all over him that literally dyed him bright green. this week he was arrested at these protests that he helped organize. it s interesting. a lot of people reported haegtd slap on the wrist. he got charged with a $350 fine and 15 days in prison. one of the things they do opposition figures in putin s russia and they bring all sorts of criminal charges against people in the opposition. he right now is serving a suspended sentence over an embezzlement charge related to timber futures. the trial is shotgun that is very wildly believed to be nonsense charges designed to harass him and give him a criminal conviction that would
keep in mind about him. one of the things they do to opposition figures is they bring all sorts of different criminal charges against people in the opposition. right now he is serving a suspended sentence over an embezzlement charge related to timber futures. the charges, the trials is something they believe to be nonsense charges to give him a criminal conviction that would keep him from qualifying to be on the ballot, to run against putin for president. it cooked up embezzlement charge. he is on a suspended sentence for that already. when he got arrested this weekend they gave him a 15 day sentence for illegally protesting. that on top of him already having this suspended sentence could be a pretense for them to as we say in this country,
for president against vladimir putin next year. obviously that can t stand. an obscure court convicted him on something about timber futures. he will no longer be allowed to run for president against vap. he ll be disqualified because of that terrible embezzlement conviction. when that hammer fell, one of our famous russia watchers said the trump administration said nothing. the russian see friendly faces in this administration. that comes from the new yorker is calling the new cold war. david rem nick, great for you to be here. there are important things i feel like is new ground that you eyes have reported in this long piece that gives a lot of so