Russia's chief investigator has lashed out at regional subordinates for closing a probe into the activities of a prominent opposition leader without informing Moscow.
Aleksander Bastrykin, the head of the Investigative Committee, accused investigators in the Kirov region of closing a probe against anticorruption blogger Aleksei Navalny "on the sly" and ordered a review of the case in Moscow.
Investigators were probing reports that Navalny alleged embezzled funds from a state-owned timber company in the Kirov region, causing it one million rubles ($30,800) in damages.
Navalny, who has become an opposition icon since street protests broke out after parliamentary elections in December and a presidential vote in March, rejects the accusations.
Aleksander Bastrykin, the head of the Investigative Committee, accused investigators in the Kirov region of closing a probe against anticorruption blogger Aleksei Navalny "on the sly" and ordered a review of the case in Moscow.
Investigators were probing reports that Navalny alleged embezzled funds from a state-owned timber company in the Kirov region, causing it one million rubles ($30,800) in damages.
Navalny, who has become an opposition icon since street protests broke out after parliamentary elections in December and a presidential vote in March, rejects the accusations.
