Sawt Falasteen - Russia fines anti-war politician as he suffers medical episode

Nadezhdin -- one of the few politicians in Russia openly criticising President Vladimir Putin and Moscow's Ukraine offensive -- had tried to sign up for running in tightly controlled parliamentary elections in September.

The 63-year-old faced the charges over a 2023 post he made linking to a video featuring the late opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who is designated an "extremist" in Russia.

Navalny died in prison in 2024 but any mention of him in Russia is still deemed dangerous. Nadezhdin decried the charges as "nonsense" and said they were designed to stop him from running in the September polls.

Before the hearing, Nadezhdin -- who has a history of heart ailments -- took a reading of his blood pressure, which appeared to be at extreme hypertensive levels, according to an AFP reporter in the courtroom.

Paramedic staff entered the room and performed a cardiogram on him at about 12:00 pm (0900 GMT), around an hour after lawyers called for an ambulance.

Despite his lawyers' pleas, the judge did not defer the verdict, finding him guilty of displaying "extremist symbols" and issuing him a 1,000 ruble ($13) fine.

The maximum sentence for the offence is 15 days in prison.

"I'm glad to be alive... We live in a sick state," he said following the verdict.

He earlier warned he would "simply die" if imprisoned.

Nadezhdin's lawyer, Natalia Tikhonova, described the charge as "unlawful", saying he had posted a link to a livestream that had not yet taken place and was unaware it would feature an image of Navalny.

She also accused the court of placing her client's life in danger by not immediately allowing him to be seen by paramedics.

Nadezhdin had been campaigning to become an MP in the town of Dolgoprudny outside Moscow before his arrest Monday.

He told AFP on Wednesday that authorities filed the charges because they were "nervous" of his popularity.

The former municipal councillor attempted to run for president in 2024 against Putin, gathering tens of thousands of signatures of support before being barred from the vote.

Russia has launched a major clampdown on dissent since launching its 2022 Ukraine offensive.

V.Said--SF-PST