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narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. announcer: and now, "bbc news". >> hello, i'm lewis vaughan jones. you are watching "the context" on bbc news. >> i want to tend and his government and his entourage to know that they will be held responsible for everything they've done to our country. president biden: make no mistake, putin is responsible for navalny's death. putin is responsible. >> that fight for freedom. >> no one can look at this regime and not recognize it for the truly dreadful nature it has.

♪ lewis: welcome to the program. restart of course in russia and get plenty of reaction to the news that alexei navalny, the high-profile opposition politician died in prison according to the prison service in russia. his lawyer bringing us up to date with the latest, on their way to the remote prison right now, expected to arrive saturday moing. they have had no independent congress -- confirmation yet as to what happened. u.s. president joe biden says vladimir putin is responsible. there has in fact been a huge reaction from leaders around the world. russia says that reaction has been unacceptable. we are keeping across different live feeds, pictures coming into us from around the world. we started in london, happening

now, a vigil close to the russian embassy. you can see the placards, people coming out in support of alexi navalny. now we go to paris because you can see ukrainian president zelenskyy is speaking with emmanuel macron. macron has said "the death of mr. navalny shows the weakness of the kremlin and their fear of all opponents. in the last couple of hours, also a live feed from moscow. people have been placing flowers at a memorial dedicated to the victims of political repression. people have been coming up and putting flowers down. that live feed is now not running but earlier we caught this moment. take a look. a1-person protest holding up --

a one-person protest holding up a sign, saying that alexey navalny died today. the police would not allow that. as that was happening, people did continue laying flowers. people did continue on coming out onto the streets. we will keep across all of those live developments. first, our russian editor steve rosenberg reports live from moscow. steve: smiling, cracking jokes. this was alexey navalny yesterday as he gave testimony in prison by video link. even court officials cracked a smile. today, russians prison service announced that mr. navalny was dead, claiming he lost

consciousness inside this penal colony. russian tv rarely mentions alexey navalny, write out the statement about his death and then moved on to other news. it was vladimir putin's most vocal critic, a protest leader, anticorruption campaigner who had long clashed with the kremlin. i remember this six years ago. alexei navalny is russia's most prominent opposition figure and mr. putin's most vocal critic. he has been barred from running in the presidential elections. heas now been arrested by police. steve: in 2020 in siberia he was poisoned with a nerve agent, airlifted to germany for life-saving treatment. he accused the tremblant of trying to -- kremlin of trying to assassinate him. as a politician, he felt he couldn't stay away from russia. when he returned the following

year, he was arrested on arrival. he had been in prison ever since. his friends and family fearing for his safety. just hours after alexei navalny was reported dead, his wife yul ia made a dramatic appearance at the munich security conference. she could not confirm his death, but -- >> if it is true, i want putin and his whole entourage, his friends and his government to know that they will be held responsible for everything they have done to our country, to my family, and to my husband. and the stable come very soon. steve: president putin, too, made an appearance meeting industrial workers. he made no mention of alexei navalny. alexei navalny was one of the most charismatic political figures in russia in modern times, and the only opposition leader who had been capable of

bringing large crowds onto the streets to protest against the authority. for that reason, the kremlin saw him as a threat. he knew that by taking on the authorities, he was taking a risk. >> my message for the situation when i am killed, very simple, not give up. steve: in memory of russia's most famous prisoner, some leave flowers. by this simple act, we will not forget. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. lewis: we will be back with the latest from moscow later, but i want to bring you this breaking news from the u.s. it concerns one of donald trump's court cases. weow have new details just released by the judge. donald trump has been found liable to pay $354.9 million.

this is the written judgment that you can see on your screen right now, released by the judge. these are the headlines. trump has been found liable for 354 $.9 million says the judge. the judge banned donald trump and others from serving as an officer or director of any new york corporation or other legal entity in new york for three years. just to bring you up to speed with where we are on this, this is a court case where the decision was already reached. it was about the pricing of donald trump's assets, and the decision was that those were already inflated. we were waiting for the judge to rule on things like how much he would be liable to pay.

$354.9 million is the number. trump and his two sons have already been found liable of massively inflating the values of their properties by hundreds of millions of dollars in a trial that you may have been following that ended last month. this ruling here is setting out basically the penalties that must be paid. it looks like it is $354.9 million which is clearly a huge fee. the new york attorney general had asked the judge to fine trump $370 million, which some legal analysts thought was high, but the final figure, $354.9 million, n far off of it. donald trump has always denied any wrongdoing here. further details, as i mentioned,

not only that number, but also the fact that the judge has ordered donald trump and others to be banned from serving as a director of any new york corporation or legal entity in new york for three years. new york and the new york business scene is where donald trump made his name after inheriting a considerable sum of money, invested into property, and that is where he gained his reputation. he is now not allowed to serve as a director or officer of any new york corporation for three years and has to pay $354.9 million. now, we are expecting him to appear, so the payment therefore will not be due immediately, but that is the decision of the judge. the docunt we are looking at

is a written decision of the judge's decision. we were given a heads up that it would be released this way around this time. our team of journalists is pouring through the detail of the actual document to see what othe details we can glean from it. clearly, the headline from it is quite significant. the judge saying the trump organization must install an independent director of coliance, and says its independent monitor shall continue in her role for at least three years. the judge bans donald trump, jr. and eric trump from serving as an officer or director of any new york corporation or other legal entity in new york for two years. donald trump for three years, donald trump, jr. and eric trump, banned for two years.

also the judge bans donald trump and the trump organization for applying for loans from any new york-chartered financial institution for three years, as well. the headli out of that no doubt will be the headline figure, $355 million. we will get plenty of reaction to that. our team will be pouring through that legal document, and will be speaking to some legal experts to try and establish what exactly it means. to be absolutely clear, this is a separate court case we were covering this time 24 hours ago which is the criminal case. this is a case in new york specifically. let's get ck to events in russia today. we had a thorough overview from our russian editor steve rosenberg about the latest state of play, but reaction around the

world from world leaders about what happened to alexei navalny has been extensive. just to give you some idea, take a listen. president biden: make no mistake, putin is responsible for navalny's death. putin is responsible. what happened to navalny is yet more proof of putin's brutality. >> we should hold putin accountable for this and nobody should be in any doubt of the dreadful nature of putin's dreadful regime in russia. >> the putin regime has serious questions to answer. alexei navalny has been a strong voice for freedom, for democracy for many years. nato allies have called for his immediate release for a long time. >> the world has lost a freedom fighter in alexei navalny. we will honor his name. in his name, we will stand up

for democracy and our values. >> putin does not care who dies as long as he retains his position, and that is why he must not keep anything. putin must lose everything. he must not retain anything. he must be held accountable for what he has done. lewis: we can speak now to edward lucas, author of "new cold war: putin's russia and the threat to the west." what is your reaction to what we are hearing today? edward: first of all, it's a terrible day for the navalny family and colleagues, terrible day for russia and terrible day for the west. it shows there are threats to russia if anything happens to navalny, have bounced off, like pretty much everything we have said to the regime over the past years.

and this happens on the day of the opening of the munich security conference where navalny's wife, yulia navalnaya, was to be giving a keynote speech. it is a massive two fingers to the west. this is something the kremlin cannot tolerate, even a flicker of remote opposition in a penal colony in the far north of russia. that is weakness. i think the persian regime right now thinks it is mission accomplished. lewis: what are the options then? you said effectively threats from the west have bounced off. it is simply more things like sanctions or is there any other alternative? edward: absolutely not. we can try and find the people responsible that put these financial sanctions on them and their families and so on, but

the real russian opposition is not navalny, it is not the great democratic leader who is also in jail, it is not the little scattered protests that we see of soldier's relatives that we see across russia talking about conscription. none of that matters. nor does any opposition inside the kremlin. they are all basically under putin's thumb. the real opposition is the armed forces of ukraine. they are by far the most important thing, and we have to give ukraine the weapons they been begging for, giving them the alarm grange strikes, artillery shells, all the ammunition they need. that is the best chance for both preserving our security but also eventually leading to regime change in russia. lewis: going back to the vladimir putin calculation. if u.s. president joe biden is

correct by saying that vladimir putin is responsible for what happened here -- we should point out that the kremlin and russia have criticized the reaction from leaders in the west. but if we work on that hypothesis, what exactly is the calculation of vladimir putin here? edward: first of all, i think we've got to be careful about giving any real weight to kremlin denial. this is not a he said, she said story. the kremlin has a track record of murdering its opponents. this is what has happened in this case. let's be clear about that. i think the putin calculation is that it humiliates the west, sends a signal to everybody else in russia who is sticking about resisting him, not only will i put you in jail but i will kill you and get away with it. it sends a signal to anyone inside the regime thinking that the boss is getting old, maybe

it is time to think about someone different, don't even think about it. i am still in charge. those are all reasonable assumptions for putin to make. i fear he will get away with them. lewis: edward lucas, thank you for coming on the program. we will be looking soon at what we know about the last movements of alexei navalny, trying to piece together what we know about what has happened so far. i want to touch on our breaking news since we came on air, in the last 15 minutes or so, that news concerning donald trump and the fraud case in new york against him. the judge has reached his decision and has published it online. donald trump found liable to pay 300 $50 million in penalties for fraudulently overstating his net worth to dupe lenders.

that is basically the decision of the judge. we found out some other details. we are going through that judgment. also banding donald trump from being the director of a company effectively in new york for three years, and for applying for certain loans. the headline figure will be that figure you see on the screen, which donald trump must pay. we know previously he has denied any wrongdoing, and , b, we know that he is expected to appeal. we don't expect that amount to be paid immediately but that is the decision of the judge. basically, he has to pay it. let's try and understand what is going on. we can speak to a former united states attorney. thank you for coming on the program. what is your reaction to what we were reading in the last few minutes from the judge here? >> well, this is a devastating judgment, not only are the

damages well in excess of what mr. trump had imagined and very close to the full amount that the new york attorney general thought, but with the new york state interest-rate, i imagine this final damage assessment will be well over $400 million. donald trump predicted months ago that the judge would apply the corporate death penalty to him, and that seems to be what he is doing not only with the significant damages amount but also barring him from him being a top officer, him and his sons from running any new york business for three years. this really goes to the heart of the trump business empire in a way that we have not yet seen. lewis: interesting. remind us what the original accusation was, what donald trump has been found to have done wrong here. >> months ago, the judge found donald trump committed fraud in

overstating the value of his properties in an attempt to obtain more favorable loan terms. in what is called a summary judgment decision, the judge determined that fraud had been committed. a trial was held to simply determine the amount of damages and other consequences including the appointment of a monitor, as you mentioned earlier, to continue to oversee the trump business holdings. lewis: talk us through now what happens next. this is a document that has been released. we have read it, that huge sum. 350 odd million dollars to pay. what happens now? rachel: this judge does not have the last word on this case and this decision is not the final order that we would expect to see in this matter. the former president can appeal this decision, all aspects of it, and it has been harsh toward

him. his lawyers have been sanctioned. he has been disciplined, in terms of what he can do in running a company. he has been determined to have committed fraud, and the judge tried to dissolve all of his businesses in new york. really, the former president has no option but to appeal this. that appeal could take months or even years, stretching will be on the next presidential election in this country. lewis: during that appeal process, does the fine have to be paid and held, or does nothing happen until the outcome of the appeal is known? rachel: i am certain the president's lawyers will ask for any fine to be held in abeyance until a higher court makes a decision on whether judge engoron's decision is correct. lewis: interesting.

we have only just had this in the last few minutes or so, but what impact will this have on the organization, first of all, him running any organization right now in new york, keeping across his business interests? can he still operate elsewhere? what is the kind of impact immediately on him? rachel: that's a complicated question, a good question. the trump organization is trying to reestablish business in other states. there is a question of how much and whether they need to run that by a monitor that the judge has already appointed in this state. one can certainly envision a world in which trump organization picks up roots in new york where it built its business empire and reestablishes a network in another part of the united states. lewis: let's just remind people

who are just tuning in, because we have two significant new stories happening right now, as i'm sure you will appreciate. we started the program talking about the events surrounding alexei navalny. this news has just broke so we are covering it now. remind us, what has the judge effectively decided here, rachel? rachel: the judge had previously imposed sanctions on president trump and his attorneys, previously found donald trump committedraud, tried to dissolve' donald trumps businesses and established a monitor. we now know that monitor will be in place for at least three more years. we know the judge has assessed damages in the amount of over $350 million, and we now know that the judge is barring mr. trump and his sons from running any business in new york for the immediate future. this is a devastating blow to the trump organization. lewis: to be clear, in your

eyes, this is the higher end of what the judge could have decided here? rachel: well, the attorney general was seeking $370 million in damages, so when you think about the spectrum of the damages he could've imposed, he certainly went much closer to the ag's number than the trump organization's number. lewis: in terms of the impact on donald trump, $350 million, from your understanding, what kind of impact will that have? rachel: forbes magazine has estimated the former president's work to be around $3 billion. mr. trump beasley testified that he has $400 millioin cash, wouldn't need to liquidate any assets to pay this kind of fine. however, as we discussed, the

350 million dollars sum doesn't include the interest rate that could be tacked on top of that. moreover, even for who is a man a billionaire three times over, this represents 15% of his wealth. it is a significant amount. i am sure it is very disappointing to the former president. lewis: great to get your analysis. thank you for talking us through that, rachel pulled loose. thank you. that is the immediate reaction thereto that decision by the judge. donald trump found liable to pay $350 million. we don't think he will pay it immediately because there will be an appeal. what we are looking at there is the court document written by the judge, effectively his decision deciding that donald trump had already been found guilty in this instance, and this is the penalty. we have looked at the legal side, will be getting plenty of political reaction to this, and

plenty more out of moscow and russia, the latest events with alexei navalny. i'm lewis vaughan jones. this is bbc news. ♪ narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... man: bdo. accountants and advisors. narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ announcer: "usa today" calls it, "arguably the best bargain in streaming." that's because the free pbs app lets you watch the best of pbs anytime, anywhere.

♪ ♪ narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... brook: these are people who are trying to change the world. startups have this energy that energizes me. i'm thriving by helping others everyday. people who know, know bdo.