Navalny challenges court verdict in Kirovles case

Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny, who was sentences to five years in custody on embezzlement charges, has challenged Kirov’s Leninsky district court verdict. “Today, we filed an appeal asking to revoke the verdict of the Leninsky district court as illegal and ungrounded,” Navalny’s lawyer, Vadim Kobzev, told Itar-Tass on Friday. The motion was filed with the Kirov regional court. On July 18, Kirov’s Leninsky district court sentenced Alexei Navalny to five years in a general penitentiary and a fine of 500,000 roubles on charges of organizing large-scale embezzlement at the Kirovles tomber company. Petr Ofitserov, former director of Vyatka Timber Company, was sentenced to four years in prison and a fine of 500,000 roubles on charges of accessory in embezzlement. They were arrested in the courtroom and taken to a detention ward in Kirov. On the next day, the Kirov court changed the measure of restraint to Navalny and Ofitserov who were released under a written pledge not to leave the city.