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Court hearing on changing Navalny’s sentence in Kirovles case postponed to May 13

Alexey Navalny was not notified about the court session in advance, lawyer said he learned about today’s court session from the media
Opposition activist Alexey Navalny (right) Mikhail Pochuyev/TASS
Opposition activist Alexey Navalny (right)
© Mikhail Pochuyev/TASS

MOSCOW, April 23. /TASS/. Moscow’s Lublinsky Court has postponed Thursday to May 13 reviewing the Kirovles case and deciding whether to change Alexey Navalny’s suspended sentence with a real prison term.

The decision to postpone the hearing was made because Navalny was not notified about the court session in advance, since the Russian Post still considers him to be under house arrest.

Navalny’s lawyer Vadim Kobzev said Alexey learned about today’s court session from the media. Navalny said he did not receive a notification because the Federal Penitentiary Service has still not sent documents to the Russian Post about lifting house arrest.

"Since the Russian Post still considers him [Navalny] to be under house arrest, he is banned from receiving any correspondence," the lawyer said.

On July 18, 2013, the Leninsky District Court in the city of Kirov gave Navalny a five-year suspended sentence for embezzlement, while another suspect in the case, former head of Vyatskaya Forest Company Pyotr Ofitserov, received a four-year suspended sentence.

However, the verdict reads that the Federal Penitentiary Service may request the suspended sentence with a real prison term if suspects systematically disturb public order.

On December 30, 2014, Moscow’s Zamoskvoretsy Court found Alexey Navalny and his brother Oleg guilty of embezzlement in the Yves Rocher case. Alexey received a 3.5-year suspended sentence, while Oleg was sentenced to 3.5 years in prison.

On February 19, 2015, Moscow’s Presnensky Court sentenced Navalny to 15 days in jail for handing out leaflets outside a metro station.