Moscow sentences Russian-Israeli scientist to prison over funding Navalny-connected foundation
Dr. Sofia Rosenfeld argued that she had been out of contact with the outside world while participating in a scientific expedition in the northern Arctic when the transfers were made from her account.
Russian-Israeli scientist Dr. Sofia Rosenfeld was sentenced to three and a half years in a penal colony by Moscow's Gagarinsky District Court after being convicted of financing an extremist organization. The charges related to two donations of 1,000 rubles each to the Anti-Corruption Foundation, which is linked to opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
Navalny founded the foundation, which exposed government corruption in Russia. The foundation was designated as an extremist organization in 2021. Rosenfeld, who has Israeli citizenship, claimed she did not intend to support extremism but wanted to fight corruption. She stated that public assistance also had a role. Rosenfeld argued that she canceled the standing payment order after learning the foundation had been outlawed.
She is the third woman to receive a prison sentence for small donations to the foundation. Rosenfeld, a biologist, immigrated to Israel with her family in 1990 but has lived in Moscow since. She has earned degrees from Moscow University and worked on Arctic waterfowl research. Her father, Boris Rosenfeld, expressed shock at the severe sentence and hopes for public pressure to help her leave Russia and come to Israel.
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