Russian Opposition Figure Navalny Appeals Suspended Sentence in Kirovles Case

Russian Opposition Figure Alexei Navalny has appealed a five-year suspended sentence over embezzlement of funds from the state-run Kirovles company, his lawyer Vadim Kobzev told Sputnik on Friday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The date of the appeal hearing is not settled yet. Navalny's lawyers asked the court in a joint appeal with the second defendant in the case Petr Ofitserov to overturn the sentence and stop criminal prosecution.

"We have filed an appeal against the verdict," Kobzev said.

On February 8, a court in Kirov found Navalny guilty of participating in a scheme to embezzle 16 million rubles ($270,000) from a timber firm KirovLes while working as an aide to the Kirov Region governor in 2009. He was handed a 5-year suspended sentence and a fine of 500,000 rubles ($8,450). Ofitserov was handed a four-year suspended sentence with the same fine.

In 2013, Navalny received five years of imprisonment, but the Kirov court later changed the decision to a suspended sentence. The Supreme Court overturned the conviction after the ECHR said that Navalny's rights were violated during the trial. A re-trial was then scheduled, which found him guilty.

Commenting on the court's verdict, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the judicial procedure performed regarding Navalny "legitimate."