Accessibility links

Breaking News

Sentence Of Navalny's Brother Converted To Real Prison Time

Updated

Oleg Navalny in a Moscow court in January 2021.
Oleg Navalny in a Moscow court in January 2021.

A court in Moscow has converted a one-year suspended sentence to real prison time for the brother of jailed opposition leader Aleksei Navalny.

The Lyublino district court handed down the ruling on February 18 at a hearing at which Oleg Navalny was not present.

During the hearing, the court said that Navalny might have left Russia for Cyprus.

Russia added Oleg Navalny to the country's wanted list last month.

"Navalny obtained a ticket for a Moscow-Cyprus flight for September 4, 2021, and there is no information on his return to the country," a judge said at the hearing.

Navalny's current whereabouts are unknown.

Oleg Navalny was given a one-year suspended prison sentence after a court in Moscow in August found him guilty of publicly calling for the violation of coronavirus pandemic restrictions.

He and his supporters have called the sentence politically motivated.

The outspoken Kremlin critic Aleksei Navalny has been in prison since February 2021 after being speedily tried and handed a 2 1/2-year prison sentence for violating the terms of an earlier parole. His conviction is widely regarded as a trumped-up, politically motivated case.

Navalny has blamed President Vladimir Putin for his poisoning with a Novichok-style chemical substance. The Kremlin has denied any role in the attack.

Based on reporting by RIA Novosti and Interfax

RFE/RL has been declared an "undesirable organization" by the Russian government.

If you are in Russia or the Russia-controlled parts of Ukraine and hold a Russian passport or are a stateless person residing permanently in Russia or the Russia-controlled parts of Ukraine, please note that you could face fines or imprisonment for sharing, liking, commenting on, or saving our content, or for contacting us.

To find out more, click here.

XS
SM
MD
LG