Russian Opposition Figure Navalny Gets 5-Year Suspended Sentence

A court in the Russian city of Kirov on Wednesday handed Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny a five-year suspended sentence over embezzlement of funds from the state-run KirovLes company, a Sputnik correspondent reported from the courtroom.

KIROV (Sputnik) — Thus, during the retrial, Navalny was given the same prison term as in 2013.

The judge also fined Navalny 500,000 rubles ($8,450).

Earlier in the day, the court annouced the guilty verdict to Alexey Navalny.

In 2012, Navalny was convicted of setting up a criminal scheme to steal timber from KirovLes, resulting in a $255,000 loss to the regional budget. A five-year prison term sentence handed down to Navalny by court was suspended.

In December 2014, Navalny was sentenced to 3.5 years for the embezzlement of 30 million rubles ($500,000) from the Yves Rocher cosmetics company and the Multifunctional Processing Company (MPC). The sentence was again suspended.

Navalny will appeal the guilty verdict over embezzlement of funds from the state-run KirovLes company, his lawyer Vadim Kobzev told Sputnik Wednesday. "Of course we will file an appeal," Kobzev said.

Navalny heads the Party of Progress. In 2013, he finished second in the Moscow mayoral election, with 27 percent of the vote. He voiced an intention to run in 2018 presidential election in Russia.

On Wednesday, Navalny said he was confident his new conviction would be overturned, leaving the path clear for next year’s presidential race.

"We do not accept this conviction and it will be overturned. I have a constitutional right to stand for election," Navalny told journalists after the retrial.