But his mind was defiant. Infused with a heavy touch of irony and humour, a distinctive hallmark of the opposition leader, Navalny joked with journalists and scolded the authorities.
He ironically asked the judge for part of his "enormous salary".
"Because I am running out of money thanks to your decisions," Navalny said, referring to the numerous fines imposed on him.
The next day, the Russian authorities said he had died in a maximum-security prison in the country's far north.
His demise, if confirmed, will be widely seen as the final chapter in what looks like the Kremlin's systematic efforts to silence the most vocal and prominent thorn in the side of the Russian government.
For years, Navalny was harassed, intimidated and jailed as his prominence in Russia grew.
In 2017, a doctor told him he had lost 80% of his sight in one eye after suffering a chemical burn when an assailant threw a green liquid in his face.
But those attacks looked like child's play when in 2020 he miraculously survived an elaborate FSB plot to poison him with Soviet-era Novichok. Navalny soon became unwell after getting on a plane in the Siberian city of Tomsk for a flight back to Moscow.
The change in his condition was sudden and violent. Navalny went to the toilet at the back of the plane.
He didn't re-emerge and collapsed.
Video footage shows the crew scurrying towards him. Passengers described grim, animal-like howls of pain. An unauthorised, on-thespot decision by the pilot to divert the plane to a nearby city, where he received emergency treatment, appeared to have saved his life.
A long and uncertain road to recovery in Europe followed the poisoning. Step by step, Navalny grew stronger. He started to walk and recognise people.
German doctors soon confirmed that Navalny had been poisoned with a military-grade nerve agent from the Novichok family.
Esta historia es de la edición February 17, 2024 de The Guardian.
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