Moscow Court Sets Navalny Brothers' Appeal Hearing On February 17

The date has been set for hearings into an appeal by Russian opposition leader Aleksei Navalny and his brother against their convictions in a theft case.

The Moscow City Court said on February 3 that the hearing will take place on February 17.

Navalny was convicted of large-scale theft on December 30 after a politically charged trial.

He received a suspended 3 1/2-year sentence.

His brother, Oleg, was sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison on the same charges.

Earlier on February 3, the Taganka District Court in Moscow postponed a hearing on Navalny's challenge against blocked access to his blog site in Russia.

The hearing was scheduled for February 3, but the court postponed it because a representative of the Prosecutor-General's Office did not show up.

Russian media regulator Roskomnadzor last month ordered the website to be blocked at the request of the Prosecutor-General's Office.

As recently as late January, Navalny was still using social media to call for mass demonstrations on March 1.

With reporting by TASS and Interfax