One of Russia’s best-known opposition leaders, Alexei Navalny, has arrived in court for sentencing on Tuesday, two weeks earlier than originally planned. The ruling in the fraud case against the opposition campaigner has been unexpectedly moved up from Jan. 15 to Dec. 30 amid speculation that the decision could trigger mass street protests.
Navalny, who is under house arrest, blames President Vladimir Putin for widespread corruption. His brother Oleg is also on trial. Both are accused of defrauding two firms.
Prosecutors demanded 10 years in jail for him and 8 years for his brother.
The brothers deny the charge that they stole 30m roubles (£338,500; $526,000) from the firms, one of which is an affiliate of French cosmetics giant Yves Rocher.
Moscow’s Zamoskvoretsky District Court gave the 38-year-old lawyer a suspended sentence of 3.5 years, while his brother Oleg will be sent to prison for the same term.
“What a filthy decision!” Alexei Navalny said after his brother’s sentence was announced. “Why are you locking him up? In order to punish me more?”
Navalny, who has been under house arrest since the spring in connection with another case against him, has said the charges are politically motivated and meant to destroy any chances he has of a political career. He emerged as one of the strongest leaders of the anti-Kremlin protests that erupted in 2011 and 2013.
www.belsat.eu/en, following BBC, The Moscow Times, Bloomberg
