RUSSIA: Opposition leader Alexei Navalny released pending his appeal

Record ID: 860254

  • Title: RUSSIA: Opposition leader Alexei Navalny released pending his appeal
  • Date: 19th July 2013
  • Summary: KIROV, RUSSIA (JULY 19, 2013) (REUTERS) VARIOUS EXTERIOR OF KIROV REGIONAL COURT COURT SIGN JOURNALISTS NEAR COURT COURTROOM PROSECUTORS SEATED GUARD ALEXEI NAVALNY'S WIFE YUILA TALKING TO LAWYERS OPPOSITION LEADER ALEXEI NAVALNY ENTERING COURTROOM, BEING LED INTO GLASS CAGE NAVALNY'S WIFE NAVALNY BEHIND GLASS JUDGES ENTERING COURTROOM
  • Embargoed: 3rd August 2013 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Russian Federation
  • City:
  • Country: Russia
  • Topics: Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA3QEP5FEJ1PXH4FFD3L0RI7KH9
  • Aspect Ratio:
  • Story Text: Russian court temporarily freed opposition leader Alexei Navalny on Friday (July 19), bending to the will of protesters who denounced his five-year jail sentence as a crude attempt by President Vladimir Putin to silence him.
    People took to the streets of big cities in their thousands on Thursday (July 18) to vent their anger after a court in the city of Kirov sentenced Navalny to five years in jail on what he says were trumped-up theft charges. More than 200 were detained.
    In a move that could be designed to head off more unrest, the court accepted an unusual request by prosecutors to let Navalny out of detention to await the outcome of an appeal against his verdict, but said his movement would be restricted.
    Navalny, an anti-corruption campaigner who has led protests against Putin, was convicted on Thursday of organising a scheme to steal at least 16 million roubles ($494,000) from a timber firm when he was advising the Kirov regional governor in 2009.
    He says he did nothing wrong and that the sentence is intended by Putin to sideline him as a potential political rival. The United States and the European Union criticised the verdict and said it raised questions about the rule of law, concerns over which have deterred foreign investors.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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