Russian Court Postpones Hearing On Blockage Of Navalny Website

A Moscow court has postponed until February 12 a hearing on opposition leader Aleksei Navalny's challenge against a ruling blocking access to his blog site in Russia.

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

Navalny is contesting the decision made last month by Russian media regulator Roskomnadzor to block the site at the request of the prosecutor-general's office.

Navalny called the restriction illegal and lodged a formal complaint.

Roskomnadzor had previously blocked some pages of Navalny's blog that the regulator considered illegal and barred users from sharing content.

Navalny, as recently as the end of January, was still using social media to call for mass demonstrations around Russia on March 1.

Navalny was convicted of fraud on December 30, given a 3 1/2 -year suspended sentence, and ordered to remain under house arrest until his appeals are exhausted.

With reporting by TASS and Interfax